Bumblebee Chronicles
by RedxMaude
Summary: Unabated, unabashed bumblebee fluff and more! From the good to the bad, happy to the sad here's a bunch of moments built around Blake and Yang. Latest chapter: Aftermath part 3. Blake and Yang have reconciled in the wake of their separation after the Fall of Beacon, but now things will be changing, and Blake decides it's time to take the next step. Rating changed to M for this one.
1. Aftermath Part One

Aftermath Part One

The Fall of Beacon

* * *

" _Blake! Blake where are you?"_

" _Blake!"_

 _Screams, distant. Then pain, hot pain in her stomach. A grimm growls, stalking in the shadows._

" _Starting… with_ her _."_

 _Adam's voice echoes, thrumming in her ears._

 _Yang's yelling – her voice entering the room ahead of her._

 _Then the ring and whoosh of a blade cutting through the air. Then a wet squelch, and a thud._

 _Then running, running and never looking back._

Blake's breath came in gasps, her chest heaving in a staggering rhythm. Her arms and shoulders burned, muscles screaming. Gritting her teeth and biting her lip, Blake squeezed Yang's limp form tighter against her body.

The battle of Beacon raged around them, but Blake honed in on the beat of her footsteps, letting the noise block out everything else as she ran, carrying Yang in her arms.

Blake's semblance had bought them some time, but she was afraid that Adam wouldn't be far behind them. Fear pounded in her veins, her heart fluttering in her chest. The faster it pumped the more blood seeped out of the wound in her abdomen.

Fighting the urge to look back over her shoulder, Blake put her head down and redoubled her speed. Yang kept slipping in her grip, so gritting her teeth she heaved the girl over her shoulder, emitting a small cry as the movement tugged at the ragged edges of the hole in her side.

Through most of it, Yang remained unconscious. But occasionally, her lips would twitch with the slightest hint of movement and she would murmur nonsensically for a minute before quieting again.

Blake had managed to put close to half a mile between her and where she'd left Adam, but she still refused to slow her pace. She started to get dizzy. Spinning, she looked down to see the night sky below her feet, then blinked – the world suddenly righting itself.

Several minutes passed before Blake noticed the growing patch of warm moisture on her back. The severed stump of Yang's right arm had bled all over her, soaking the black material of her shirt. Coming to a panicked halt, Blake cast her eyes around looking for shelter.

Settling on an emptied storefront with a broken glass window, Blake slid inside, gently lowering Yang to the floor. Her sharp eyes adjusted quickly to the utter darkness of the abandoned shop as she tore large strips from first her shirt and then Yang's to make bandages for the wound.

"Blake?"

Yang's voice was weak. Her eyes had fluttered open, confused.

"Blake…" she repeated, "where's my…"

Her head lolled to the side and her eyes closed briefly before snapping back open. Her lips pulled down into an openmouthed grimace, tears welling in her eyes.

"Blake, where's my arm?" she asked.

Blake stared at her, dumbstruck. Strips of cloth hung from her hands, temporarily forgotten.

"It hurts," said Yang between hiccupping tears, "Blake, it hurts."

Cheeks flaring red, Yang's face relaxed as she fell back into unconsciousness, tears still rolling down her face.

Blake stared at the floor, unable to move or think or speak. Two minutes passed before she remembered the bandages in her hands. Inching closer on her knees, Blake carefully pulled the injured arm away from Yang's body.

Taking the first of the torn strips, she started to wind the material tightly around Yang's bicep, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Working her way down, she hesitated and then covered the end of the wound with a thick, white piece of cloth.

Yang jerked upright, a silent scream tearing up her throat. She thrashed and fought against Blake, who struggled to keep the girl from standing up. Dropping the rest of the bandages, Blake locked her arms around Yang's shoulders, pinning her against the wall.

A muffled scream escaped Yang as she roared into Blake's shoulder, her body rocking with big, gasping sobs. Blake's grip softened, hugging Yang to her chest and resting her chin on her head, letting tears run into the bright mess of blonde hair.

After a minute, Blake was sure that Yang was out of it again and resumed her ministrations. Tying one last strip around her arm, Blake sat back on her heels, unsure if she'd done enough. The white cloth was already saturated with blood.

Exhausted, Blake sat beside Yang, leaning against the wall for support. Gingerly, she probed the wound in her side. It was small but deep, and the flow of blood had already started to slow. Taking what was left of the makeshift bandages, she bound the wound as tightly as she could bear.

Leaning her head back against the wall, she turned to stare at Yang, eyes lingering over her ruined arm.

 _My fault… I tried to stop her but… it's my fault…_

Tears rushed back to Blake's eyes, blurring her vision. Her ears swiveled towards Yang, catching the sound of her almost inaudible, breathless moans.

Sniffling, she stared down at her hands in her lap, feeling utterly useless.

"I couldn't protect you," she whispered.

* * *

Yang's eyes opened, her sight wavering. The world was a whirl of shadows that ran at her face, ducked around corners, slinked over her outstretched legs.

She sat slumped on the ground. Something sharp bit into her back. She was cold. A slight breeze rustled through strands of her hair.

But mostly she felt a deep burning at the end of her right arm. The heat drummed out a loud pulse that reverberated through her entire body, each beat falling heavier than the last.

Refusing to look, Yang turned her head away. Her eyes landed on a figure clad in black and white, spattered in blood. The edges of her vision were hazy and dark, encircling the figure with an indistinct cloud.

 _Blake?_

The raven-haired girl stood with her back to Yang, her body arched in a defensive crouch. Something growled, and a black shape slouched into her line of sight, circling Blake. Fear dropped into the pit of Yang's stomach like ice as she watched saliva drip from the monster's mouth.

 _Blake!_

 _I need to…_

 _But… I can't… I can't move._

Staring into the grimm's glaring red eyes, Yang was shackled to the floor. She screamed at her legs to move, but they wouldn't listen.

 _Why can't I move?!_

The creature's teeth grinned at her, sharp triangles of light in the dark. It licked its lips, warily watching Blake, sizing up its prey. Yang trembled uncontrollably.

 _Blake, run!_

Emitting a coughing bark, the creature lunged at the Faunus, narrowly missing her shoulder with a blow from its heavily clawed paw. The beowolf spun, tracking one of Blake's shadow clones with its eyes. The real Blake appeared in the air directly above it, rushing down with her katana drawn.

Reacting at the last moment, the grimm rolled to the side, receiving a large gash across its ribs. Stumbling back, Blake fired off a flurry of rounds, raking the side of the beowolf's neck with a hail of bullets.

Severely wounded, the creature retreated a few steps before changing its tack. Leaping at Yang, it bared its fangs and howled.

Reflexively, Yang raised her arms to defend herself. She hissed in pain as the stump hanging from her right shoulder jerked forward.

Blake slammed into the beowolf's side knocking it off course. The force of the blow sent her down to one knee. Yang watched as she threw Gambol Shroud, its deadly blade whistling through the air. A moment later, she heard a high-pitched yelp, followed by the low sounds of labored breathing.

Darkness threatened to close Yang's eyes again, sinking her back into that warm, timeless space.

 _Stay awake… I've got to… stay…_

 _Blake – where's Blake?_

 _I need to stay awake…_

Briefly, she lost her fight to remain conscious – a dark curtain closing over her eyes.

A moment later, she jolted awake to find that the world had turned on its side. Confused, she frowned.

"Blake... where's Blake? We need to… get away…" she managed to say.

Then the images she saw started to make sense – ordering themselves into distinct colors and shapes. A hand brushed hair away from her cheek, gently stroking her head.

"Shh, Yang, it's ok. I'm right here."

Blake cradled Yang's head in her lap, combing her fingers through her golden curls. Yang felt her muscles unclench, relaxing into Blake's touch. A sense of calm slid over her, slowing her heartbeat.

 _Blake._

Yang sighed, slowly letting herself fade away, drifting towards a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Blake didn't feel cold any more.

Completely numb, she sat staring at the girl lying across her lap. Yang's eyes had opened briefly, but now she seemed to sleep. The tears had dried on her pallid cheeks.

Worn out from fighting the beowolf, Blake had allowed herself a few moments to rest. Her aura had dropped to dangerously low levels. If it wasn't for Yang, she probably would have just curled up and waited for everything to be over.

But Yang needed her, and so she'd keep going.

Forcing herself to stand, Blake clumsily lifted the unconscious girl onto her shoulder. Picking her way through the upturned furniture in the store, she walked back out into the night.

And then she ran.

Tears – born of anger, fear, frustration, loss – streamed out behind her in her wake. Anger that Adam had gone after her through Yang. Fear that she wouldn't be strong enough to carry her partner for much longer. Frustration at being faced with her own weakness. Loss at seeing someone she loved so irrevocably broken.

Pushing back her thoughts, Blake cleared her mind and let herself fall into a pattern. She only felt the jarring impact of the ground as her feet pounded against the pavement. She only saw the next bend in the road. She only ran because she had to – and that was all.

Counting ten breaths at a time, Blake steadily sank into this rhythm of running to the next place, and the next place, and the next. Eventually, it felt as if her legs moved of their own will – entirely separate from her body. All she was and all she needed to be was the will to move forward.

Lost to herself, she almost didn't notice when the airships came into view.

Crowds of people stood around her, waiting for what she didn't know. Slowly, she stopped by a large landing platform that hosted three giant aircraft, all lined with a queue of people trying to escape.

Collapsing to her knees, she nearly landed on top of Yang, whom she deposited roughly on the ground. She let her head rest on Yang's stomach, only-half hearing the shouts that erupted around her.

People were standing over them now, calling their names. Too tired to answer them, Blake rolled onto her side, letting her weight drop off of Yang.

Her skin buzzed, limbs still humming as if she'd never stopped running.

"Blake!"

"Blaaaaaaaake!"

The voices shouted, loud and insistent.

"What happened to them?"

Someone pointing, "Yang's arm…"

Then the whispers.

Not turning to face the voices, Blake rested her cheek against the cold ground. Reaching out, she took Yang's hand, desperately squeezing her fingers.

Quietly, she mumbled, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Then the darkness rushed up to meet her, and she let herself fall into the unconscious void.

* * *

Author's note: I've always wondered what was going through Blake and Yang's minds during that missing chunk of time between when Blake runs off carrying Yang and when Ruby finds them surrounded by friends. I know other people have written this kind of story before, but I made a point of not reading them so I wouldn't unconsciously copy what someone else had done. This is part 1 of at least 3, but I'm guessing that there will be more than that. I hope to have part 2 done and posted very soon! As always, leave a comment/any suggestions to let me know what you think!


	2. Aftermath Part Two

Aftermath Part Two

Reunited

* * *

 _Flash forward several months. The battle of Beacon has long since been lost, and team RWBY has gone their separate ways._

 _Blake has returned from Menagerie, and is now in Mistral looking for her teammates and keeping an eye out for the White Fang. Sun has parted ways with her and returned to his teammates._

 _Yang, after accepting her new arm and training to essentially re-learn how to fight, has likewise traveled to Mistral with her father. Arriving at Haven, they stay in one of the surrounding towns looking for Ruby._

 _Instead, what they find is Blake._

* * *

Yang sat on a bench outside the inn. Staring at the cliffs around her, Yang scratched at the metal band around her arm, just about where her elbow would have been. The band served as an attachment point and nerve interface for her mechanical arm.

That is, it would have, were the arm in question not damaged.

Looking down, she flexed her bicep, watching the stump wiggle back and forth.

Sighing, she remembered for the thousandth time that day the stupid move that had put her cybernetic new limb out of commission…

* * *

Bored, Yang had ditched her dad and Blake. Wandering, she'd found herself going deeper into the woods than she had planned. Behind her, she heard a deep snuffling sound, followed by rustling in the surrounding bushes.

With a roar that yawned from its slack-jawed mouth, a massively oversized ursa had stood up out of the brush. It easily would have towered over any other Yang had ever seen, topping out at a staggering eighteen feet or so.

Smirking, Yang turned to confront it.

Relishing in the chance to let off some steam, she'd thrown herself into the fight. The ursa's back was protected by white, three foot-long spikes of some sort of bone-like material, forcing Yang to attack its softer underbelly in a frontal assault.

Landing a few solid punches, she jumped back as the monstrous bear swatted at her with its taloned paw. The blow missed, and Yang landed with a huff.

Crouching, she launched herself high in the air, firing off a barrage of flashing red rounds from Ember Celica. Somersaulting neatly, she landed behind the ursa. As it spun to face her, she lashed out with a series of kicks viciously aimed at the grimm's neck and face.

Agitated, the ursa fell forward, using its weight and momentum to batter Yang. Off balance, she stumbled and took a heavy blow to her abdomen, claws raking against her aura.

She flew back a few yards before landing in a crouch. Determined, her eyes flashed red.

 _Now's the time_ , she thought.

Lately, she'd been practicing running her semblance through her cybernetic arm's neural receptors in order to enhance the weapon's already monstrous strength.

Unfortunately, she hadn't perfected the technique yet.

Her eyes and hair ablaze with the energy of her aura, Yang renewed her attack on the creature. For several minutes they fought, exchanging blows. The ursa started to lose ground.

Feeling cocky, Yang backed the monster into a corner, forcing it towards the looming cliffs that made up much of this part of Mistral's geography. Feeling the energy crackle and flow through her right arm, Yang balled up her fist – building up for a massive strike.

When the blow landed, the forest rang with the crack of the ursa's protruding spines breaking against the rocky cliff face. Distracting by the sound, Yang lost her focus and the flow of energy she was feeding into the arm broke.

Carried forward by the force of her semblance but no longer protected by its strength, the arm punched through the grimm's abdomen and rammed into the rocks behind it.

Yang stood buried up to her shoulder in the ursa's body. Its dying scream gurgled in its throat. As the body started to dissipate, Yang yanked her arm back, pulling it through the corpse.

She had really managed to do a number on it. The top-of-the-line Atlas tech was made to withstand a lot, but Yang's inability to properly control the energy of her semblance through it had managed to break down its defenses.

Smashed against the cliff, three of the mechanical fingers had welded together, crushed. Trying to move her hand, Yang heard a whirring sound and realized something had disrupted the mechanism in the wrist.

Trying to move her shoulder, Yang realized the concussive force of the blow had even managed to dislocate the joint at the top of her arm.

Head down, she'd turned and headed back to the inn.

Removing the arm, Yang had foisted it off on her dad. Shaking his head, he helped pop her shoulder back into place. Taking the arm, he'd headed into Haven to see if an armorer could repair the damage.

* * *

Now a day later, she stewed in her frustration, feeling stupid. Weeks and weeks of training and she could still screw up this bad in a fight. As always, the haunting thought that she'd never truly become a huntress buzzed around inside her head.

Taiyang had returned from Haven, saying that it would be a few days before her arm could be repaired.

Even though she'd only been using the arm consistently for a matter of weeks, she'd come to depend on it to complete everyday tasks like eating and dressing herself.

Shaking her head, Yang headed back inside the inn. Stomping past the front desk, she headed for their suite.

In the common area that joined the two bedrooms, Taiyang and Blake chatted, sitting in two overstuffed armchairs. Zwei was curled up in a patch of sunlight in the corner.

Looking up at her entrance, Blake's eye caught Yang's before quickly looking away.

To her dad, she said, "I'm gonna grab a shower."

He nodded, noticing the tension between her and her teammate. Over the past several days he'd had to act as a buffer between them.

Not saying a word to Blake, Yang marched off in the direction of the bathroom. Taking a towel from the linen closet, she tucked it under her arm and slammed the door behind her.

Hanging the towel on a rack by the shower, Yang kicked off her shoes and shoved them in a corner under the sink. Leaning down, she yanked off her socks and then struggled out of her jeans, sliding them down her legs first on one side and then the other.

Next, she tried to shrug out of her jacket but winced, crying out when pain jolted through her injured shoulder. Not fully healed, the joint was stiff and swollen.

For several minutes Yang wrestled with the fabric of her jacket, trying to slide it off with her left hand, but the material snagged on the metal band around the base of her right arm.

Frustrated she tried to jerk the jacket off again, crying out louder this time. Anger flared in her eyes and she slammed the side of her fist against the wall.

For a moment she stood there panting, desperately fighting the urge to cry.

A soft knock came at the door.

When she didn't answer, Blake's muffled voice said, "Yang? Can I come in?"

Begrudgingly, Yang resigned herself to admitting she needed help and opened the door.

Blake slid in and closed the door behind her, still hesitating to meet Yang's eyes. She knew the distance she'd see in them if she did.

So far, Blake had done her best to respect Yang's feelings, letting her have her space. And on multiple occasions in the two weeks since they'd found each other crossing Mistral's vast woodlands towards Haven, Yang had made those 'feelings' perfectly clear.

They'd had all the arguments before – Yang screaming in Blake's face, accusing her of abandoning her after Adam had lopped her arm off. To herself, Yang admitted the role Blake had played in saving her life, but during the months of her recovery an irrational anger had grown and flourished in the darkest corners of her heart.

Blake had met Yang's accusations defensively, shouting that she'd only left to protect Yang from further attacks by Adam. That she was scared and needed to put as much distance between her and Vale as possible. That she was afraid Yang would hate her for what Adam had done.

In the quiet hours after these fights, Yang begrudgingly acknowledged the validity of what Blake had said. She understood that Blake was trying to protect her, and she understood how scared she must have been – hell, Yang was scared too, loathe as she was to admit it.

But _knowing_ was one thing. Accepting and moving on was something else entirely.

For weeks, her anger had burned like a glimmering flame, eventually cooling into stale indifference. For days they'd barely spoken.

But now, Yang needed help. She couldn't even undress herself! Blood rushed to her cheeks, fingers clenched into a tight, shaking fist.

Wordlessly, Blake reached up and slid Yang's jacket from her shoulders. Standing behind her, she lifted Yang's thin white shirt over her head. Blake set them aside on top of Yang's discarded jeans. Deftly slipping her fingers under the clasp of Yang's bra, she slid the straps off her shoulders and placed it on the growing pile of clothes on the counter.

Yang shivered at her touch, her eyes trained on the wall in front of her. She felt Blake's hand brush her hip, sliding her underwear down from around her waist to the floor.

Blake left Yang standing naked in the center of the room and turned on the water in the shower. Holding her hand under the stream, she waited until it was warm.

She turned and beckoned to Yang, this time meeting her eye. Yang hesitated, then stepped forward into the shower.

The water was warm on her skin and she relaxed, belatedly realizing that every muscle in her body had tensed. Leaning in, she soaked her hair under the streaming jet of hot water. Turning to face away from the showerhead, Yang stood with her body angled slightly away from Blake, arms crossed over her chest.

Blake rolled up her sleeves and flicked open one of those little complimentary bottles of soap, the lid releasing with a small _pop_. The smell of lavender filled the air.

Rubbing the soap on her hands, Blake massaged it into Yang's thick mane. Her hands moving in tiny circles, Blake worked her way around Yang's skull. The pressure and rhythm soothed Yang. Slowly, she let her arms drop by her sides.

Blake put a hand over Yang's eyes, protecting them as she rinsed the suds from her hair. Squirting a pinkish stream of conditioner into her hands, Blake started to run her fingers through Yang's hair again. Every so often, her long nails would graze gently against Yang's back, trailing invisible lines down her bare skin. Wherever Blake's fingers touched, Yang's skin hummed with a soft tingling.

Wetting a cloth under the hot water, Blake lathered it with a floral-scented body soap. Pushing Yang's hair over her shoulder, Blake washed Yang's back. Rubbing the cloth against her skin in slow circles, Blake gradually increased and then decreased the pressure with which she pressed the cloth against Yang's back.

She worked her way down from Yang's neck, all the way to the base of her spine. Yang blushed as Blake's hand seemed to cup her butt cheek through the thin material of the cloth. Continuing to work her way down Yang's left side, she scrubbed down the length of Yang's leg. As she crouched, Blake supported her weight by wrapping her free hand around the inside of Yang's thigh.

Electric sparks danced over Yang's stomach, something tugging deep inside her. Yang looked away, focusing on the faded little daisies painted on shower wall's tiles.

Straightening up, Blake repeated the same process down Yang's right side. She was cautious around Yang's injured shoulder, but otherwise Blake's hands were sure and steady, not missing a single inch of Yang's lightly tanned skin.

When she was finished scrubbing down Yang's leg, she stood up and gently placed a hand on Yang's shoulder, urging her to turn around. Catching Blake's eye, Yang rotated around to face her.

Pausing for a moment, Blake returned Yang's look before she resumed scrubbing the soapy cloth against Yang's skin. Leaving her hand on Yang's shoulder, Blake wiped the rag across Yang's collar bones and neck. Sliding her hand down, she washed Yang's breasts, her hands curving around them gently. All the while, Yang stood there watching her.

Running her hand lower, Blake wiped across Yang's taught stomach, reaching down towards her groin. Her other hand slipped off Yang's shoulder and rested on the protruding bone of her hip.

Warmth welled up inside of Yang, and she couldn't help but smile.

Finished, Blake discarded the cloth and left Yang to rinse off. Returning with the towel, Blake turned off the faucet and draped the towel across Yang's shoulders as she stepped out of the shower.

Blake wrung out Yang's hair over the tub and started to pat her dry with the towel. Afterwards, she wrapped the towel around Yang's chest, tucking a corner into the top of the cloth to secure it in place. Finished, she stepped back towards the door.

As Blake turned and grabbed the handle, Yang reached out and took her hand. Blake's black cat ears perked up, and she looked backed over her shoulder. Yang's eyes were trained on the floor, her face scrunched up in an effort not to cry.

Without a word, Blake squeezed Yang's hand and led her out of the bathroom. Taiyang and Zwei were nowhere to be seen. Crossing the common area to Yang's bedroom, the two girls padded on bare feet across the wood floor.

Inside Yang's room, the door closed with a bump of Blake's hip. Yang sat on the edge of her bed, still not looking at her partner. Blake waited, uncertain of what to do.

When it was apparent that Yang wasn't going to say anything, Blake plucked a pair of underwear, sweatpants, and a t-shirt from the set of drawers by the window. Hooking her hand under Yang's arm, she lifted her off the bed.

Blake untucked the corner of the towel, letting it fall to the floor. Kicking it aside, she bent down and help Yang step first into her underwear and then her worn gray sweatpants. Standing up, she touched the underside of Yang's arm. Understanding, Yang raised her arms straight up above her. Blake slipped the thin cotton shirt over her head, pulling it down and straightening it out until it covered her stomach. She went to tie off the right sleeve, but Yang shook her head.

"Leave it," she said, her words breaking the silence.

Blake nodded.

"Okay."

Yang took Blake's hand again, pulling her down to the bed. Sitting side by side, Yang released her grip and placed her hand on Blake's thigh.

Blake's mouth dropped open in silent shock as she stared at Yang's hand, warming her skin through the material of her pants. Regaining her composure, Blake smiled and scooched back further on the bed, letting her back lean against the wall behind her.

Yang leaned back with her, letting her head rest against Blake's shoulder. Every time she breathed in, she could smell the sweet scent of vanilla on Blake's skin.

Suddenly exhausted, Yang slid down, resting her head in Blake's lap.

They both stiffened – remembering the last time they'd sat like this. After a moment, Yang rested her hand on Blake's knee, drawing circles with her finger. They both relaxed, and Blake ran her hands through Yang's hair.

Yang closed her eyes, enjoying the small tugging sensation as Blake's fingers stroked her skull and trickled down through her curls.

They stayed like that until they both nodded off, Yang hugging Blake's leg, and Blake's head resting against the wall, her hand on Yang's shoulder.

Sometime later, Taiyang opened the bedroom door and peeked in. He squinted through the gathering dusk, and smiled when he saw the two girls curled up side by side on the bed. Silently, he closed the door and left them to sleep.

* * *

Author's note: Hope you guys enjoyed part two! I know it's quite a bit longer but I really wanted to linger over the moment of their reconciliation, watching the wall come down between them. Part three is already in the works and hopefully I'll be posting it soon! Please leave any comments/suggestions – they are always much appreciated! Also I'm super tired right now so I probably missed a couple typos – if you see any please feel free to point 'em out!


	3. The Catnip Debacle

The Catnip Debacle

* * *

Feel free to read these chapters out of order! Anything that's chronological will have a part one/part two etc. label in the title!

* * *

"Uh guys, I think there's something wrong with Blake," said Yang, pointing a finger at the feline Faunus slumped haphazardly over the lunchroom table.

Ears pricking under her bow at the sound of her name, Blake swiveled her head in Yang's direction. Mumbling, she said, "I'm fine. L-leave me alone."

"I think maybe we should take her back to the room," offered Weiss, looking vaguely concerned.

"What… what's wrong with her?" Ruby asked, watching as Blake dizzily followed a fly with her eyes, her entire head turning to watch every zig-zagging movement. Wildly swatting at it with an upraised hand, she missed and batted Yang's tray off the table, scattering French fries across the floor.

"She kinda reminds me of Uncle Qrow when he's had too much to drink," she mused.

"So always?" said Yang with a shrug.

"You two aren't helping," quipped Weiss. "And how could she be drunk? We're literally in the school cafeteria – all they have is juice, milk, water and stuff like that!"

"I don't know okay!" retorted Yang. Then to Blake she said, "Hey Blake? Why don't we head home? You look like you could use a nap or something."

"No!" she answered, pouting.

"Blake come on, it's time we got going any ways."

"I wanna stay herrrrrre!" she said, trilling the 'r' and pawing at the air, her hand accidently brushing against Yang's breast.

"Whoa there!" she said with her hands up, backing away.

Blake giggled as her head lolled to one side, sticking out her tongue.

"We can do this by force if we have to," Yang said, directing Weiss and Ruby to surround Blake on all sides.

"C'mon Blake, we really should get going!" Ruby chimed in.

"Why're you telling always me what to do…" murmured Blake, sounding like she was talking around a mouthful of marbles.

A couple of tables away, the members of team CRDL pointed and whispered to one another, barely able to keep their snickering from exploding into outright laughter.

Yang cast a suspicious eye their way before turning her attention back to Blake, who had started to prattle nonsense seemingly to herself under her breath.

"Blake, last chance – let's head back up to the room," she coaxed, slowly taking a step towards her partner.

Flashing her teeth in a silent growl, Blake sprung off the bench, nearly crashing into the next table. Fighting to steady herself, she hiccupped and bounced off of a group of nosey first-years who'd crept just a bit too close to the spectacle.

At this point, team CRDL was surrounded by a contingent of raucously laughing confidants, all apparently in on the joke. Meeting Yang's eye, Cardin slowly and deliberately waved a plastic baggy at her, full of what looked like ground-up green leaves.

Weiss gasped. "They must've spiked her lunch with catnip!"

Furious, Yang let her eyes flash red for a moment, satisfied when she saw Cardin's smile slip for half a second. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention back to Blake, who was currently trying (and failing) to shove her way past Ruby.

"Alright that's it!" she cried. Stomping forward, she grabbed Blake around her waist and hefted her over her shoulder into a fireman's carry.

"Yang!" protested Blake weakly, squeezing her eyes shut. "I think I'm gonna be sick…"

"Not if you know what's good for you! One speck of barf in my hair and I will burn every book you own!"

Lugging her friend out of the dining hall, Yang marched past Cardin, resisting the urge to punch him in the gut as she went by. Weiss and Ruby trailed in her wake, casting apologetic glances to whomever met their eye.

* * *

Two weeks later, team RWBY was having lunch when a fight between two upperclassmen broke out in the courtyard. Rushing to the windows to catch the action, they left their trays unattended.

Cardin and one of his teammates watched them leave, looking at each other conspiratorially. Striding over to their table, Cardin pulled out the leftover catnip.

"Cardin, are you sure it's such a good idea to do this again?" his partner asked, wimping out.

"Why not? Besides, we gotta do something with the rest of this stuff. Might as well slip it into her drink for a laugh."

"Yeah but which drink is hers?"

"Dude, c'mon – there's a glass of milk right next to where she was sitting! Who the hell else would be drinking milk if not the cat?"

With that, he dumped the powdered contents into the glass, shaking it until they disappeared into the thick white liquid. Satisfied with his handiwork, Cardin dropped the empty bag under the table and left to go watch the fight.

Several students already bored with the antics trickled past him in the opposite direction, heading back to their abandoned lunches. Among the crowd were Ruby and Weiss, chatting away, too absorbed in their analysis of the fight to notice Cardin's smirk.

* * *

"Goodwitch always breaks up the fights right when they start to get good," Yang complained to Blake. "I'm a hundred percent convinced she does it on purpose."

"Not sure if I agree with you on that one – what the heck is going on at our table?" asked Blake, staring in Weiss and Ruby's direction.

Ruby had mounted the lunch table, flinging random bits of food around the room. Weiss stood below her, waving her arms. Unsteadily, the younger girl leapt from table to table, kicking trays and knocking over drinks. Several students jumped away from their lunches to avoid the fallout.

Running over, Yang yelled, "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know!" cried Weiss. "We were just eating and she suddenly went nuts!"

"What did you give her?"

"Nothing!"

At this point, Ruby was attempting to do pirouettes on the table. Her arms flailed as she struggled to stop herself from crashing to the floor.

Approaching cautiously, Yang asked, "Ruby? Are you ok?"

Ruby chortled gleefully, a giant grin plastered across her face.

"WHY DO I SEE SO MANY COLORS!"

* * *

Author's note: Just felt like writing something short and silly today :) I'm working on Eclipse part two as well as another new story for the Bumblebee chronicles, hope to be posting those within the next couple days! As always, let me know if you have any comments/suggestions.


	4. Blake Goes to the Vet

"Blake Goes to the Vet"

* * *

"Ughhhh," moaned Weiss, clutching her stomach.

"Weiss," asked Ruby weakly, "you okay?" She moved to peer over the side of her bunk bed to check on her teammate, but a dizzy spell sent her collapsing back in a heap on her own sweat-dampened pillow.

"N-nn-nnoooooo…" Weiss answered through chattering teeth.

"You big babies," Yang mocked halfheartedly from across the room, punctuated by a high-pitched sneeze. Further undoing her bravado, Yang's cheeks blazed with the heat of her high fever.

Blake looked around the room, taking in the pitiful state of her team. The flu was making its way through Beacon's student body, and somehow Blake was the lone survivor in this group. Even Zwei was reduced to a beleaguered puddle of bleary eyes and tired limbs, huddled at the foot of Yang's bed.

She sighed, shaking her head.

"Blake," whined Weiss, "can you get me a glass of water?"

"Of course." Blake darted out of the room, heading to the kitchen. A minute later, she returned and handed the cup to Weiss, who accepted it and gingerly took a few small sips.

Blake's ears perked under her bow as she heard the shuffling of blankets and creaking wood behind her. Turning, she saw Yang slowly attempting to climb down from her bed. Zwei flicked his eyes towards her, annoyed by the disturbance.

"Yang," she said, exasperated. Ever the tough-guy, Yang refused to believe she was sick – making it almost impossible for Blake to keep her in bed.

Crossing the room with a few quick strides, Blake pounced up onto Yang's mattress, simultaneously grabbing the girl by her shoulders and restraining her. A struggle of wills ensued as Blake tried to wrestle Yang back into bed and under the covers. While Yang usually would have overpowered Blake easily, her fever sapped the strength from her limbs, allowing Blake to push her back down after only a few brief moments of resistance.

"Blake I'm fineeeee," groaned Yang, "I can help take care of Ruby and Weiss. They're _way_ sicker than I am," she protested, even as she pulled the blankets more tightly around her.

Ignoring her, Blake felt Yang's forehead with the back of her hand. "You're really burning up," she muttered.

"What can I say, I'm hot." A small smile peaked up a Blake through the tangled mess of blonde hair covering Yang's face.

"Ugh, seriously? On the verge of keeling over dead and still making jokes?"

"Who's joking?" she said. It would've sounded more mischievous, except that Yang was already half-asleep, completely worn out by her struggle against Blake.

Carefully, Blake extricated herself from Yang's bed, keeping her distance from where Zwei was curled up with his dry nose tucked under his paws.

Landing lightly on her feet, Blake fussed with her clothes, straightening out her shirt and adjusting the bow over her ears. Looking around the room, she saw that Ruby was passed out, a light snore rumbling up between her lips, her mouth hanging open in a small "o." Her cheeks were almost as bright red as her sister's.

 _What am I going to do with them? I can't take care of all of them!_ Thought Blake to herself. Always the recluse, Blake wasn't accustomed to being a caretaker for one let alone three disease-ridden girls. A small whine reminded her of Zwei's presence. _Make that three girls and one demon-corgi_ , she thought.

For the rest of the night, Blake got up every few minutes – checking temperatures, fetching juice, adjusting blankets. The later it got, the worse their congestion was, resulting in more and more snoring, coughing, hacking, wheezing – it wasn't long before Blake felt like she was sitting in a puddle of germs and phlegm and God knows what else.

At some point in the middle of the night, she must've drifted off to sleep. That hour of undisturbed rest was her longest respite since her three teammates had all come down with the virus, but it was inevitably cut short when she heard a disturbance in the bed above her.

Yang's mattress shifted violently as she leapt from the bed, landing gracelessly on the floor with a resounding thud. Blake jerked up and jumped out of bed after her, but before she could catch up, Yang rocketed towards the bathroom. Flinging the door open, she fumbled in the darkness and made it to the toilet just in time.

Blake hurried to her side, holding back Yang's wild hair while her friend was sick, her sides heaving. Gently, she stroked her hair and her back, not sure what else she could do.

They remained crouched on the floor for a few minutes while Blake waited for it to pass. When Yang felt like it was over, she laid down on the cool tile floor, exhausted. After that she passed out.

* * *

Later that morning when Yang woke up, she found herself in Blake's bed, not sure how she'd gotten there. In the weak morning light she looked around, seeing that Ruby and Weiss were both starting to stir.

Her eyes fell on Blake's silent form – the girl was unconscious, deeply asleep in the chair at Weiss's desk. Her head lolled to one side, hanging over the back of the chair.

 _She must have carried me here…_

Still weak, Yang put her head back down on Blake's pillow and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

By noon, Weiss, Ruby, and Yang were fully awake and sitting up in bed. They all looked better than they had the night before, but they'd be spending the rest of the day in bed or find themselves dealing with a surprisingly insistent momma-bear Blake.

But even though the three girls were on the mend, Zwei was looking more despondent than before. His nose and mouth were dry, and no matter how much Yang coaxed and pleaded, he wouldn't eat or drink anything offered to him.

"Zwei," Ruby moaned, worriedly playing with the edge of her blankets in her hands. "What are we gonna do? He's only going to get sicker if he won't even drink anything!"

Petting the poor animal, Yang said, "He's gonna have to go the _v-e-t_."

Even though she had spelled out the word, one of Zwei's ears perked up, suspicious.

"Well none of _us_ can take him," said Weiss matter-of-factly, crossing her arms over her chest and letting her glare fall on Blake.

Blake's thoughts had drifted off, too tired to focus on much in particular, but she was snapped out of her reverie by Weiss's comment.

"Wait, what?" she asked.

"You heard me," Weiss answered.

"You want _me_ ," Blake emphasized this by pointing an index finger at herself, "to take care of Zwei? As in, by myself?"

"Yes."

"Zwei… and me?"

"Yup."

"Wait, wait, wait," Blake protested, " _You_ want _me_ to take Zwei out, _on my own_?"

Weiss nodded.

" _To the vet!?"_

"Blake!" yelled Yang, covering Zwei's ears.

"Ugh, how many times do I have to say it?" demanded Weiss.

"I'm sorry – I think I just had an aneurism or hallucinated or something because this is my literal worst nightmare. I think this is the worst thing that's ever happened to me!" Blake squealed. "And I've _seen some shit_ ," she hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Weiss.

"Stop being so dramatic, seriously Blake it's not that big of a deal," retorted Weiss with a hair flip. "You don't even have to hold him – just put him in his travelling crate and he'll sleep the whole way."

"Blake, pleeeeease?" begged Ruby, catching Blake's gaze with her best impression of big, sad puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, Blake pleeeease?" mimicked Yang, pouring it on pretty thick.

"Ugh fine," she said, throwing her hands up. "But," she pointed at the two sisters, "You are seriously gonna owe me."

With that, she fetched Zwei's travel crate and hefted it up onto Yang's bed. Nuzzling his nose and giving him a quick squeeze, Yang deposited the sleepy pup inside, handing the crate down to Blake.

Resigned to her task, Blake wordlessly left the room, feverish fur ball in tow.

* * *

Blake's heel bounced up and down, impatient. She'd already been sitting in the waiting room at the vet's office for over an hour. Fighting the urge to fall asleep, Blake's head rested to one side against her shoulder. Her cheeks were warm and she felt like she was floating in place. Ears flicking, she reach up to rub one of them and soothe the irritation.

Thirsty, she cast a quick glance around the room, disappointed to find no water cooler. Her throat had become scratchy after sitting in the dry air of the clinic for so long.

A few minutes later, a man in a white coat emerged, carrying Zwei tucked under his right arm.

Standing, Blake half-listened to the doctor's report.

"Zwei is going to be just fine, we gave him some fluids and I'm going to give you the name of a special food he should-"

"Doc, I'm gonna stop you right there," said Blake. "I'm not his owner, and I'm probably not the best one to give this information to. Would you mind holding on a sec while I call someone and then telling them whatever it is you were about to say?"

A bit flustered, the doctor nodded his agreement. Satisfied, Blake quickly dialed Yang, explained and handed off her scroll to the vet.

Meanwhile, the doctor had set Zwei down on the floor, who had crawled into his crate and snuggled up in the blankets. Blake latched the door behind him and took her seat, waiting for Yang to stop plying the vet with her sure-to-be extensive list of questions.

As Blake sat, she fussed with her ears again, scratching at the bow. She folded them down, trying to quash the irritation. Catching herself just as the vet turned to hand her scroll back, Blake hurriedly dropped her hands to her lap.

The vet gave her a questioning look. "Excuse me miss, are you alright? What are you scratching at?" he asked, staring curiously at her bow. Understanding dawned on him as Blake belatedly realized all the scratching must have messed up the neatly-tied ribbon, exposing one of the ears beneath.

"Hmmm…." the vet said, pondering with a hand held up to his lips. Before she could react, he bent over and touched his hand to her cheek. She quickly recoiled from his touch, but apparently, not quickly enough.

"I'm sorry, but it seems like you're running a temperature," he said, his eyes intent on hers. "And, are your um," he paused, unsure, "are your _ears_ bothering you?" he whispered, conspiratorially.

"I'm fine!" she growled, embarrassed.

"I think you're coming down with that flu that's been going around. If you're not careful, you could get a nasty ear infection," he cautioned.

A worried look blanched across her features, hands flying up to her cat ears.

"I think you'd best come with me," he beckoned.

"No – I think I'm good, honestly," she said unconvincingly.

He gently grabbed her arm, guiding her to the room behind them.

"It's ok, I promise this won't take a minute! You'd be surprised at the number of young Faunus coming down with this bug, nasty thing really… Actually had one girl get an ear infection so bad she temporarily lost the hearing in one of her ears due to fluid buildup! Poor thing, terribly painful…"

 _Fluid buildup… hearing loss!?_ Blake's eyes widened and her sudden panic weakened her resolve, allowing herself to be led into the exam room.

"That's a good girl, just a moment, a quick little pinch – nothing at all really – and you and Zwei will be on your way home…"

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Blake dragged herself into the room she shared with her teammates. Each of the three girls looked up as she came in, but said nothing after seeing the haggard look on Blake's face.

Silently, she deposited Zwei – crate and all – on Yang's bed. Resisting the urge to simply lie down and pass out, Blake grabbed a fistful of clean pj's and started undressing, not caring that her three roommates were all staring at her, worried expressions on each of their faces.

But halfway through changing her clothes, she heard a fit of giggles erupt in Yang's general direction.

Blake stopped, and gritted her teeth, trying to ignore her.

But Yang couldn't hold it in, and positively started to roll around on her bed with laughter. Ruby and Weiss cast a questioning look in her direction, but Yang was too far gone to answer.

Blake sighed, "Is something funny, Yang?"

It took a few moments for her to respond, uncontrollable laughter rocking through her body.

Wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye, Yang sat up and pointed at Blake's behind, clad only in underwear.

"Blake, why is there a band aid on your butt!?" she roared, dissolving into a fit of giggles.

Weiss's hand flew to her mouth, and Ruby started to laugh.

Ears flattening to her head, Blake turned to level her most murderous glare at Yang (unconsciously exposing the band aid-butt in question to Weiss and Ruby, redoubling their laughter), and hissed:

"You sent me to the vet damnit what did you think was gonna happen!"

* * *

Author's note: This was just something fun for me to write, and I'm not saying Faunus would seek out medical care from a vet on a regular basis but I thought it would be hilarious to make Blake and Zwei interact and of course, get a shot in the butt (because I'm like twelve and butts are funny)! Also, this fic was less bumblebee-centric, but others to follow will be more Blake/Yang focused! Please leave comments/suggestions!


	5. Of Scaredy-Cats and High Places

Of Scaredy-Cats and High Places

* * *

"Do you hear that?" asked Velvet in her lilting accent, bunny ears swiveling towards a distant sound.

"Hear what?" asked Coco.

"Hold on, you should be able to hear it in a sec – I think it's coming closer…"

As Velvet's sentence trailed off, Coco could start to hear the faint wailing of a high-pitched sound. The two friends puzzled over it for a minute, trying to figure out what could be causing all the noise.

"Is that a… siren?" she asked, looking in the direction of one of the many practice fields at Beacon.

* * *

 _Earlier that same day, on the practice field in question…_

"Damnit Nora! Get back here!" roared Yang, firing off half a dozen rounds from Ember Celica.

Flashing a huge grin, Nora suddenly spun on her heel and, propelling herself forward with a blast from her massive hammer, she accelerated back towards Yang. Executing a graceful front flip with a twist, she soared over the fiery blonde, tapping her on the shoulder and sticking out her tongue as she flew by.

"Tag, you're it!"

"NORA!"

Eyes flashing red, Yang turned and started firing off more rounds, chasing the annoying red head around the field in circles.

Meanwhile, the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR were starting to fade. The mock-battle had been going on for half an hour already, and Nora and Yang were the only two left with energy to spare.

Ruby leaned heavily on Weiss who – although exhausted – refused to lose proper form. Right foot forward, Myrtenaster held at the ready (albeit in slightly shaking hands), she faced Pyrrha and Ren, who likewise looked the worse for wear. Worn out as they were, they were still in better shape than Jaune, who had lain in an unconscious heap for the last five minutes after receiving a particularly nasty blow to the head from Weiss.

"Maybe, we should take a break," said Ruby between breaths.

Pyrrha – looking the least beat up of the group – nodded, saying, "We should probably check on Jaune and make sure he's ok. Did you really have to hit him so hard?"

"Of course I did! How else is he going to learn?" retorted Weiss.

Shaking her head, Pyrrha turned and went to collect Jaune from where he lay half-slumped over a rock while Ren plumped down wordlessly and started massaging the tired muscles in his calves.

Ruby, Weiss, Blake all turned to watch Yang and Nora, the distinct sound of Ember Celica firing round after round echoing across the field.

"How long do you think they'll keep this up?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know," said Blake, replacing Gambol Shroud in its holster on her back. "Knowing them, this could go on for hours."

The team collectively groaned, Ruby and Weiss collapsing in a heap on the ground.

"Guess we'll just have to wait until they tire themselves out," was Ruby's mumbled reply.

That – of course – would never happen.

Turning her back to the fight, Blake stood off to the side and started reading a book she seemingly produced from nowhere, prepared to wait it out. Over to her right, Pyrrha had managed to rouse Jaune – who was, at least, mostly fine.

For the next thirty minutes, the group sat around, most of them dozing. Their naps were frequently disturbed by gunshots and Yang's screams of frustration – which were regularly punctuated by giggles and taunts from Nora.

The group was slowly lulled into a state of worn out apathy, and eventually they stopped paying attention to the frenzied brawl going on around them.

However, unbeknownst to them, the fight was inching closer and closer to where they sat around, idly dozing.

Yang emitted a screeching roar as a hit from Nora's hammer connected with her stomach, sending her flying towards the group. Startled, Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha scattered. Ren, jolted out of his reverie, at least had the good sense to cover Jaune.

But Blake was too slow to react, nose buried in her book.

"AHA!"

Nora's war cry rang out over the field as she came hurtling out of sky, swinging her hammer down in a viciously fatal arc. Waves of heat rolled off Yang from her semblance as she fired backwards, projecting herself out of the path of Nora's trajectory and leaving Blake exposed.

Looking up, she had just enough time to see the hammer connect with a patch of rocky ground inches from her feet.

A concussive BOOM shattered the earth and sent a wave of energy rocketing across the field. The blast radius was at least twenty feet wide – more than enough to send the defenseless Faunus flying.

Everyone, even Nora and Yang, came to dead halt, stopping to watch Blake vaulting through the sky in a serious of undignified somersaults. At some point she lost her grip, and her book went flying – landing some fifty feet away in a crumpled heap of mashed pages.

The arc she cut through the air was truly impressive, and seemed like it would go on forever – except that her flight was abruptly arrested by a thudding impact with one of the tall evergreens guarding the eastern edge of the practice grounds.

"Blake!" cried Yang, running after her partner.

After a moment's pause, the rest of the group recovered from the shock and chased after her. Gathering under the looming tree, they all looked up – spotting the trapped huntress, suspended about two stories above the ground.

"Blake!" yelled Yang, cupping her hands around her mouth. A look of frustration crossed her facing. Turning she screamed at Nora, "Do you have _any_ idea what you've done?"

With a shrug she replied, "She looks okay to me."

Stamping her foot and balling up her fists Yang practically bellowed in her face, "Of course she's _fine_ that's not the point!"

Team JNPR exchanged confused glances, not able to discern the source of Yang's rage.

Trying to calm her down, Pyrrha said, "Yang, Blake is okay. She's not hurt – just give her a minute to get her bearings and she'll climb down."

"Oh f**k me, you don't get it," muttered Yang, Ruby and Weiss shaking their heads in the background.

With emphasis, Yang said, " _Blake_ is in _a tree_."

"I don't get the point," said Jaune. "So what?"

"UGH! Jaune! BLAKE. IS IN. A TREE."

"I know," he answered, slowly, holding up his hands. "But I just don't see the prob- _ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh_."

"Yes, _ohhhhhhhhhh_ ," mocked Yang as understanding dawned in his eyes.

"Good luck with that," he muttered under his breath.

Turning her attention back to Blake, Yang called up in a slightly calmer tone, "Blake – it's o-kay! Come down, we're all right here, everything thing will be fine I promise!"

After a moment's delay, Blake leaned over just enough to spy her teammates on the ground before suctioning back against the tree trunk, clawing away at its bark in her attempt to secure her hold.

"You know what, I think I'll just hang out here for a while," came the hesitant reply.

"Blake," yelled Yang, wagging her finger like a disapproving mom, "you have to come down eventually."

"…I know…"

"Blake c'mon!"

"Why don't you just climb up and get her?" asked Ren.

Turning her fury on the unsuspecting target, Yang's eyes glared red and she snipped, "Because the last time I tried that she nearly clawed my eyes out!"

Under her breath to Ren, Nora said, "The last time? How often does this happen?"

Ignoring them, Yang tried calling up to Blake again. "Blake, please come down!"

"We could just cut the tree down!" offered Nora excitedly.

A high-pitched yowl followed by an emphatic hiss screeched down at them from where Blake was perched.

Shoving Nora aside with a rough blow to the abdomen, Yang yelled up, "Blake! We're not gonna cut the tree down, I promise!" Then, to Nora she whispered, " _What are you insane!_ Goodwitch would probably just get pissed at us any ways for breaking more shit."

"Blake!"

A few more moments of pleading ensued, but Blake remained resolutely silent, clinging to the tree for dear life.

Resigned, Yang said, "Blake please don't make me call the fire department again you're a grown ass woman! Get down here!"

Still not getting a response, Yang heaved an angry sigh and threw up her hands. "C'mon last time they charged me 70 bucks for making a nuisance call!"

This was met with continued silence, and Yang stomped off – already dialing her scroll. "Fine but you're paying the damn fee this time."

* * *

Author's note: Hope you enjoyed! There are so many cat jokes about Blake, and I've seen stuck-in-a-tree-stuff before but I just couldn't resist writing my own. Please feel free to leave any comments/suggestions – I will hopefully be posting the next chapter, Eclipse Part One, soon – taking a break from the funny and starting to delve into more serious stuff for a bit!


	6. Eclipse Part One

Eclipse Part One

* * *

 **There will be a Chibi reference. You have been warned. +1 if you get it. +10 if you get Yang's YouTube refs.**

Summary: Yang finds her feelings towards her teammate changing, and she's not sure how to handle it. Tensions rise as she grows jealous of Sun. Will Bumblebee be able to eclipse Black Sun?

* * *

 _What the heck_ is _this?_ Yang thought to herself.

' _At war within, the different sides of the man with four souls fought for control. Unlike the man who simply had two souls, there were more than just the polar opposites of light and dark to reconcile._

 _Anger, joy, sadness, fear – they all fought to manifest themselves simultaneously._

 _And so the man with four souls sat in endless hours of meditation, seeking to achieve balance within. But every minute was a struggle to remain whole – the four beings of immense energy constantly sought to tear him apart and assert themselves in the world of the living as independent individuals.'_

 _How the hell does Blake even read this crap? Like seriously there's hardly any plot! It's all about some dude sitting in a corner by himself. BORING. Where's the action? And who the hell has four souls? Who even wrote this garbage?_

Yang flipped aimlessly through the pages of the book, not even really seeing the words anymore. She leaned back against Blake's headboard, still puzzling over why she liked reading this stuff.

 _Ugh this is useless,_ she thought, staring at nothing in particular.

Somehow Yang had gotten it into her head that by perusing Blake's library (a.k.a. snooping) she could get a better handle on the girl, getting a peek into her likes and interests. But so far, she'd come up empty.

 _It's like trying to move a mountain getting that girl to open up,_ she mused.

Yang sighed, blowing a piece of hair away from her face. For weeks now, she'd been trying to get closer to Blake – but at the same time holding back, berating herself. Generally, her internal monologues followed the same pattern:

 _I'm only interested in getting to know her because she's my_ teammate _, my_ partner _– and maybe my friend. Nothing more._

 _Anything more would just be dangerous, right?_

 _And I don't want anything more!_

 _Ugh what's with me? I'm not like that!_

 _Right?_

 _But… what if I was? What would happen, if I just let myself…_

 _You know what, NO! This isn't_ me _!_

 _It would be so wrong, crossing that line when we live with the kind of danger we do… especially when I'm not even sure what I want!_

 _But at the same time, no one's ever made me feel this way._

 _OH GOD that is super cheesy – like freaking cheese-tastic with fondue filling, 'Oh, no one's ever made me feel this way before. She's the 'only one' – the only one who's ever made my heart jump in my chest, sending little electric sparks across my skin. The only one I've ever caught myself staring at in the quiet moments, hoping no one else will notice. The only one I want to trust. The only one…'_

 _Shut up, shut up, shut up! What am I thinking!_

 _And what's worse, what would Blake think if she knew?_

 _Oh God, what would she do if she found out?_

She paused, the answer burning in her mind.

 _She'd leave._

A numb feeling spread over her arms, settling in her chest and pricking at her scalp. For a few moments she just sat there with her arms wrapped around her knees, hugging them against herself. All the while she thought of nothing, a blank stare etched across her face.

But her gaze turned inward, a memory bubbling up unbidden to the surface, tugging at her focus.

 _There was that one time…_ she thought, remembering.

* * *

Yang lounged on her bed, watching videos on her scroll. One after the other, she mindlessly stared as her queue cycled from video to video.

She rolled onto her stomach as the next one started. It was the latest death battle match. She watched interestedly, paying attention as the commentators listed off the combatant's stats.

"Who is this Tifa chick? She is _sooo_ gonna get her shit rocked!" she exclaimed, laughing to herself.

Absorbed, she almost missed it when Blake slipped into the room, quietly closing the door behind her.

"Hey Blake," she said, eyes still glued to the screen. "All right! YES this is AWESOME!" she yelled, punctuating "awesome" with an appropriately timed fist pump.

"What're you watching?" asked Blake sardonically.

Before Yang could answer, a series of explosions thundered from the speakers in her scroll, letting loose a torrent of fiery blasts and firework-effect noises into the room.

"You know what, on second thought – never mind."

After a moment's pause, Yang looked up. "You say something, Blake?"

Shaking her head, Blake crossed the room and bent down to tuck Gambol Shroud into its customary place under her bed before sitting down to check her scroll. Bored, she slid to the floor by the bookcase, eyes intent on scanning the titles.

Undecided, she sat in a heap, occasionally pulling a book from the shelves to examine it before rejecting it and returning it back to its proper place amongst the various stacks.

Yang glanced up from her scroll and watched curiously. Five minutes passed like this, not much happening. As Yang watched, she noticed Blake's ears twitching under her bow. Imagining that she could tell when they denoted interest vs. disapproval, Yang started to play a game with herself – guessing when Blake would return a book to its shelf or not.

Resting her cheek against her palm, Blake lazily flipped through the pages of yet another book, staring down at it laying open in her lap. Her ears perked up as she tarried over a particular passage. Unconsciously, she reached up with her free hand and tugged the ribbon of her bow, sliding it off her ears and discarding it on the bed next to her.

"Uh, Blake – still here," said Yang, unsure.

"I know – it's fine. It's just us," she replied, briefly looking up to meet Yang's eye.

Her mouth formed a silent "o," heart skipping a beat.

 _It's just us,_ Yang thought, echoing Blake's words.

And just like that – the ever-vigilant, always distant Blake was perfectly at ease. Her guard was down.

… _for me?_

* * *

"Whatchya up to?"

Yang nearly jumped out of her skin, guiltily slamming Blake's book shut and shoving it back under the pillow. Hastily, she tried to shake the memory, returning her pulse to normal.

Standing over her, Ruby leaned in and tried to see what Yang was hiding.

"Ruby, hey! You guys sure are back early," said Yang, peering past her sister's shoulder to see Weiss follow her into the room and take a seat at her desk.

" _Somebody_ forgot to reserve a practice room in the gym," huffed Weiss, not bothering to turn around.

Ruby shrugged. "No big deal, we have a team practice tomorrow morning any ways." Turning her attention back to Yang, "So what did you shove under Blake's pillow? And why're you hanging out in her bed?"

Not giving Yang a chance to answer, Ruby swept her hand under the pillow in a flash, scattering rose petals all over the floor.

"Ruby!"

"What?" she asked, sticking out her tongue. "Is this one of Blake's books? Looks… deep," she said, examining the back cover.

"Ruby," Yang sighed, making a halfhearted attempt to swipe it back. "Put it back that's not yours."

"Didn't seem to stop you," she muttered, making a face. "Why were you reading this? It's totally not your style."

Yang glared at her sister, pushing past her and scrambling into her own bunk.

"I don't know it was stupid, okay?" she answered with a dramatic toss of her hair. "I was just trying to see if I could get a better of idea of what's going on inside Blake's head all the time. She's been my partner for a while now but she's still pretty hard to read."

 _Impossible is more like it,_ Yang thought.

"So what, you're doing recon on her now?" Ruby joked, smiling and waving the book at Yang.

"Can you blame me?" she answered with a glare. "Blake isn't exactly one to open up, not to me – not to anybody really. It's just – if we're supposed to be partners, I wish she'd learn to talk to me."

"You guys talk Yang, don't stress about it."

 _But I_ am _stressed about it. Never mind being partners, how can we even be real friends if I basically know nothing about her? Sometimes it feels like we take a step forward, but then I blink and we're right back where we started…_

"I guess so."

"If you have a problem with Blake," interjected Weiss, "then you should probably be talking to her about it, not us."

"Gee thanks, never would've thought of that," was Yang's scathing reply. "But – as usual – I have no freaking clue where she is! She just seems to disappear on us all the time."

"She's in town with Sun," stated Ruby matter-of-factly.

"Oh," said Yang. "They with Neptune checking out that noodle bar again?"

"Ummm, nah," Ruby answered, "I think it's just the two of them. Why?"

She couldn't help the grimace that flashed across her face, but she hurried to cover it up.

"No reason," she said, forcing a smile and hoping she didn't sound too chipper. "They dating or something now? Cause that'd be purrrfect if you know what I mean," she joked.

"Yang, c'mon even I thought that one was bad," said Ruby, smiling. "So, wanna come grab dinner with us? Weiss and are I gonna head down to the dining hall in a few."

"Yeah sure!" she said, jumping down from her bunk. "I'm just gonna stretch my legs. Meet me in the common room when you guys are ready."

Crossing the room in a handful of long strides she yanked open the door and tried not to flee down the hallway. Measuring her pace, she meandered towards the common room, eyes trained on the floor. Ruby's words echoed in her mind.

 _Just the two of them._

Making a disgusted sound in the back of throat she shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

 _Am I… jealous?_

* * *

Author's note: Here it is as promised! Part one of I don't know how many, but right now I'm thinking at least five or six. I know that there hasn't been anything too big yet, but for whatever reason I'm drawn to these small moments between Blake and Yang and I'm having fun writing out the development of their feelings for one another. As usual, please leave comments/suggestions, they are always much appreciated!


	7. Eclipse Part Two

Eclipse Part Two

* * *

Midterm exams were coming up and team RWBY needed to do some serious cramming. Oobleck's final was in two days and it promised to be brutal. Thanks to his abnormal ability to speak at the speed of sound, the amount of material he could cover was staggering.

But the weather was too nice to sit stuffed inside the library. They'd tried, but spent half their time staring out the windows watching red and yellow leaves dance in an unseasonably warm autumn breeze.

So they'd decided on a compromise: they'd keep studying outside at the tables in the courtyard.

The problem was, they had pretty much ended up "studying" outside as well as they had inside.

Scattered throughout the tables, team RWBY and their friends sat with their textbooks and notes largely forgotten.

Nora was doodling hearts on whatever scraps of paper she could get her hands on, using every colored pen under the sun. Meanwhile Ren – already several days and long nights into his midterm prep – stared about sleepily with a dazed look on his face. Slightly unfocused, his eyes watched zigzagging orange leaves drift to the ground.

Jaune had outright fallen asleep on his stack of notebooks. Drooling out of the corner of his mouth, the spittle blurred the blue ink on the pages under his head. Pyrrha kept stopping to peak over her book to watch him sleep – a stupid grin flashing across her face – so much so that she spent more time looking at Jaune than at the pages in front of her nose.

Yang sat with her chin propped up on her hand, elbow digging into the table. Casually, her eyes flicked around, watching one cluster of friends and then another. But mostly, she watched the table straight ahead across the courtyard. There, Blake and Sun sat, talking animatedly.

Distracted, Yang could hear the sounds of Ruby and Weiss arguing somewhere behind her. Only half-listening, she caught bits and pieces of their exchange:

"…we are not putting a bow on Zwei's head! What kind of a person…"

"…just a suggestion, but I personally…"

"…Nope, not doing it… don't care if it has snowflakes on it Weiss…"

"…so stubborn! Do you ever stop to listen to anyone else…"

"…my little man! Now a tux is something I could get behind…"

 _Poor Zwei_ , thought Yang, shaking her head slightly.

Tuning them out, Yang went back to staring at Sun and Blake. Sun was gesturing wildly with his arms while Blake smiled, occasionally laughing. At one point, Sun clutched his throat, eyes bugging out as he mock fell over, tail twitching. Blake shook her head, grinning and chuckling with her hand held in front of her mouth.

Yang couldn't make out what they were saying, but based on Sun's exaggerated expressions he was no doubt recounting some crazy adventure he'd had with Neptune or the other members of team SSSN.

 _More like team Hot n' Useless_ , thought Yang resentfully.

Grumbling to herself, Yang continued to watch. Every so often she'd stare down at the book in front of her, absorbing nothing. Studying was invariably a hopeless endeavor at this point. Frustrated, she closed the text and slid it away from her across the table.

She went back to watching the pair across the courtyard. Frowning slightly, she noticed how at ease Blake seemed, looking more relaxed than usual. Gradually, Yang's bitterness faded.

 _She's happy._

Leaning over to emphasize some dramatic point, Sun let his hand rest on Blake's shoulder. Her eyes widened, caught up in the story. The touch only lasted for a moment, as Sun flung up his hands and threw back his head, roaring with laughter at his own joke.

Pushing herself away from the table, Yang stood up and gathered her books. Slowly, she weaved through the tables and headed in the direction of the dorms.

Stopping mid-argument, Ruby and Weiss wordlessly watched her retreating form. Ruby looked at her partner questioningly, but Weiss simply shrugged.

Across the courtyard, Blake's ears twitched under her bow. Noticing the footsteps, she turned and watched Yang leave.

* * *

"Where's she going?" asked Sun, following Blake's eyes.

"I don't know," she said, still watching.

"Everything okay with her?"

Lost in thought, Blake didn't hear Sun's question. After a moment, Sun waved his hand in front of her eyes.

"Hello," he said, "Earth to Blake."

She jerked her head away from his hand and looked at him, mildly annoyed.

"Do you know what's up with Yang?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"No, she's just been… distant, lately."

Sun plopped down on the bench beside her, his hip bumping hers.

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"Not really," she said, pausing. "It's almost like she's been avoiding me for the past couple weeks – at least, outside of class and team practices."

Putting his hand on her back, Sun caught her eye.

"Now's your chance then. Go talk to her."

Smiling, Blake nodded and stood up. Grabbing her notes, she cast a grateful look at Sun over her shoulder and followed Yang's path at a brisk pace.

A few minutes later, she caught up with Yang. Lengthening her strides to keep up with the taller girl, Blake took a moment to catch her breath. Walking side by side, neither of them said a word. After her initial surprise at seeing Blake, Yang had barely even acknowledged she was there.

"Yang," said Blake, trying to get her attention.

Ignoring her, Yang continued to look straight ahead. If anything, she started to walk faster, trying to create some space between them.

"Yang, what's going on with you?"

More silence.

"This is starting to affect our team. Whatever it is, you can't just keep doing this!"

Yang's cheeks flushed red, unconsciously slowing her pace and letting Blake catch up. Protected by the curtain of her hair, Yang's eyes stayed hidden.

Blake waited for a moment, seeing if she would respond.

Frustrated, she yanked on Yang's shoulder, jerking her to a halt and forcing Yang to face her.

"Damnit Yang! Talk to me. What's going on?"

Yang stared resolutely at the floor, her mouth opening as if to answer. After a few seconds of hesitating, she bit her lip and stayed silent.

"Did I do something? Is that why you won't talk to me?" demanded Blake.

Blake's hand was still on Yang's shoulder. She could feel the girl shaking underneath her touch.

After a moment, Yang finally answered her.

"No…"

The half-whispered word was almost too quiet for even the Faunus to hear.

"Well then what is it? Did I _not_ do something? You've gotta give me something to go on, Yang. When Ruby and Weiss are around you put up this brave face, but for weeks now you've barely said a word to me."

Yang glared down at her – something like pain flashing across her face in a grimace.

"It's nothing. I'm fine, promise," she said, wincing at how false the words sounded.

"Don't lie to me!" spat Blake. "'I'm fine' – like hell you are! Something is clearly bugging you and it's impacting our teamwork. If you can't trust me enough to talk to me here, how're you gonna trust me out on the battlefield? You could get us killed! Is that what you want?"

Shaking her head, Yang said, "You know I trust you. I'd never let anything like that happen. Seriously, Blake it's fine-"

"Say it's fine ONE MORE TIME," Blake screamed in her face. People around them started to stop and stare. Lowering her voice, she said, "If you say 'fine' one more time I'm gonna implode." She paused. "Do you remember what you said to me last month, just before the dance?"

Looking away, Yang nodded.

"You said I needed to learn to take care of myself – to stop obsessing about the White Fang to the point where I pushed everyone away. You made me see that I needed to let people in, to let them help me sometimes," she said, tightening her grip on Yang's arm.

"You were looking out for me. You wanted me to get back to a healthy place," Blake ranted. "'Not just for you, but for the people you care about.' Remember?"

Getting angry, Yang shouted, "Of course I remember!"

"Well then talk to me damnit!"

Looking around at the gathering crowd, Yang shook Blake's hand off her shoulder.

"Not here," she said, marching back towards the dorms.

Eyes burning holes into Yang's back, Blake stomped off after her, always staying a few feet behind. All the way back to their dorm, Yang never once looked back at the Faunus. Head trained straight ahead, her wild hair swayed from side to side.

Barreling into the room, Yang flung open the door and turned to face her partner, arms crossed over her chest. Her face was set in a stone mask.

Blake followed her into their room, eyes never leaving Yang as she slammed the door behind her.

For a moment they stood there, saying nothing. The air crackled between them, heat from Yang's semblance rising from her skin.

Blake glared up at her, determined.

"Start talking."

* * *

Author's note: Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying these. The argument will be wrapped up in part 3! As always, please drop a comment/suggestion to let me know what you think! Not sure, but either part 3 of this or Aftermath will be my next post for this fic. Currently working on something new/a little different!


	8. Eclipse Part Three

Eclipse Part Three

* * *

"How long do you think I'm gonna stand here waiting?" demanded Blake.

Several minutes had passed, and Yang had yet to break her silence. Mostly, she just stared at Blake, fighting to keep her expression blank – fighting, and for the most part losing. Her eyebrows knitted together and her mouth drew down in a tense line.

"Damnit Yang! Am I gonna have to beat it out of you?"

Blake's voice ripped through a few octaves, her frustration building. Marching across the space between them, Blake continued her rant.

"For weeks now you've been distant. The last time we even really talked was when we blew up that damn train that Torchwick barreled into the city! What the hell happened?"

Grabbing Yang by the shoulders, she pinned her roughly against the wall. She shook her once, hard, and shoved her face into her partner's.

Taking slow, even breaths, Yang said, "Nothing happened. I'm just dealing with some stuff and I need some time to figure it all out."

"Well time is one thing we don't have!" roared Blake, her anger only increasing at the sound of Yang's infuriatingly calm voice. "Just because we stopped the Grimm attack on the city, it doesn't mean everything with the White Fang has been wrapped up with a nice, neat little bow. And besides, we've got the Vytal Tournament coming up! How are we supposed to compete as a _team_ when you can't even stand to be in the same room as me?" she hissed.

Yang moved as if to slip out of Blake's grasp but the Faunus tightened her grip, digging her fingers into Yang's shoulders and slamming her back against the wall.

"Blake, let go of me," Yang said, her voice dangerously low.

"No! Not until you-"

"I said LET. GO. OF. ME."

The heat from Yang's semblance intensified and her calm façade crumbled, her eyes snapping open – bright red and glaring. Blake had to fight the urge to let her go, her hands burning against Yang's skin. Flinching, she made a low growl deep in her throat and blocked out the pain.

"I'll let go of you _after_ you tell me what's going on. And if you use a single word like 'fine' or 'it's nothing' or 'stuff' or 'I need time' – I swear I'm going to pummel your big blonde head through this damn wall! I don't give a damn about the trouble we'll be in – Goodwitch can bite me!" she roared, panting.

"Blake! You need to BACK OFF!" cried Yang, something in her voice breaking. She started to struggle, shoving her shoulders away from the wall.

"No!" yelled Blake, fighting to keep her pinned in place.

Yang's hands shot up and wrapped around Blake's wrists. Blake tensed expecting Yang to shove her away, but she was caught off guard when instead of pushing Yang pulled her in closer. Yang's mouth crashed against hers in a hot, hard, angry kiss.

Before she could make sense of what was happening, Blake felt Yang bite her lip, drawing blood. Shock jolted through Blake, freezing her in place. Belatedly, she realized her lips were moving in unison with Yang's.

As fast as it had started, the kiss ended. Not knowing how it had happened, Yang had freed herself from Blake's grasp and was standing behind her now. Blake still faced the wall, her hands hovering uselessly in the air where Yang's shoulders had been only a moment before.

Sound rushed back into Blake's world, and she realized Yang was panting. Blinking, she turned slowly to look at her partner. Yang was facing away from her, her back and shoulders shaking slightly. The glow of her aura still raged and rippled around her like so many bright flames.

Blake felt a million questions buzzing in her skull, but she couldn't put a single one of them into words. Numbed, she was only capable of staring – her mind still preoccupied with the sensation of Yang's mouth pressed against hers, forcing apart her lips, _biting_ her…

Still with her back turned to Blake, Yang finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Her words were surprisingly hushed after all the screaming. There was a ragged edge to her voice, as if something had torn inside her throat.

 _Sorry?_ thought Blake, her mind still moving in sluggish circles.

"I didn't – I didn't mean to do that," said Yang, her head bowing towards the floor. Blake noticed that her partner's hands were clenched into tight, quivering fists.

"I – what I was trying to say before… I just need some time, some _space_ , to get whatever this is under control," she said, looking at Blake over her shoulder. "I didn't want to put you in a position like this… not as your teammate, not as your friend –"

Yang's voice shook, and if Blake didn't know better, she would've thought Yang was – almost _crying_ …

Yang took a deep breath, starting over.

"I didn't want to confuse things for you. I didn't want to put you in a position where I compromised our team, and I especially didn't want to mess up how things have been going for you and Sun…"

 _Sun? What does he have to do with –_

Blake's eyes widened as she realized.

 _She thinks Sun… and me are – but we're just…_

"Yang," she croaked, her voice a broken whisper. Shaking her head and clearing her throat, she tried again. "Yang, Sun and I –"

"I know," she said, cutting her off. "You don't have to say it. I'll work on this, I promise. I'm still your friend –"

Something clicked inside Blake and she found that she could move again. In a flash, she was behind Yang, placing her hand on her shoulder. Yang's voice cut off, her mouth hanging open. She clamped it shut, and Blake felt her muscles tense under the hand she'd laid on her shoulder.

Blake's heart pounded in her chest, and she felt something rising in her throat. She buzzed with an energy she could barely contain.

Slowly, she slid her hand down from Yang's shoulder to her hip, and turned her around so they were facing one another again. She didn't meet Yang's eyes at first, but she left her hand resting lightly on her hip. Incapable of looking anywhere else, Blake just stared at the hand that was cupped gently against Yang's side.

Slowly, the heat from Yang's semblance faded and her body shuddered, suddenly cold. For a moment, neither of them moved.

Then, still not looking up, Blake took a small half-step forward, erasing the space between them. Tugging with the hand on Yang's hip, she pulled the other girl closer. Wrapping her other arm around Yang's back, Blake hugged her and nuzzled her cheek into the side of Yang's neck, burying her face in the mass of wild blonde curls.

For a moment Yang hesitated – frozen. Then, slowly, she lowered her arms around Blake, gently wrapping them around her back.

Together, they stood wound in each other's arms – losing track of time for a while. Eventually, Blake was the first to step away.

Every inch of her skin thrummed with a buzzing, prickling sensation. Her hand shook slight as she tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. Finally, she gathered enough courage to meet Yang's gaze.

Looking up from under the curtain of her hair, Blake's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly.

Before her stood her strong, stubborn, battle-hardened teammate – but her face had softened, something had slipped inside her, and silent tears streaked down her cheeks.

Seeing Yang look _vulnerable_ , something tugged deep inside Blake's stomach and she felt tears start to well in her own eyes. Still floating and feeling oddly numb, she took an uncertain step back towards Yang.

Leaning closer, she brought her mouth up to Yang's – pausing. A breath hitched in her throat as she hesitated. But, closing her eyes she eliminated what distance was left between them and pressed her lips gently to Yang's.

This kiss was different – it wasn't frantic, hurried, or angry like the one before – it was soft, questioning, uncertain. Yang's lips stayed closed, and Blake brushed them lightly with her own before taking Yang's top lip between hers, parting them slightly.

She paused, breathing in her scent, feeling one of Yang's tears slip onto her skin, sliding into the hollow of her throat. Closing her mouth around Yang's top lip again, she felt Yang's hand land light and warm on the small of her back. Without realizing what she was doing, she brought both of her hands up and placed them on Yang's arms.

Finally, Yang's lips started to move with hers, soft and slow. Unconsciously, Blake's tongue slipped between Yang's lips, playful and teasing.

Moving her lips away from her mouth, Blake pressed a serious of light kisses to the skin on Yang's jaw and neck. Under her touch, Blake could feel Yang's breath coming faster, her chest heaving against her own.

Embarrassed, Blake broke away – realizing what she was doing. She stepped away, a hand rising to touch her lips, still buzzing from the kiss.

Yang watched her warily, something about her expression becoming defensive – _scared_ , even.

Stunned, Blake remembered that this had all started with an argument – with her storming after her partner, slamming her up against a wall, getting in her face…

 _How long has she…_ wondered Blake, still not able to put it all to words.

 _How long has she felt… and been hiding this from me, from all of us? Is she – is she in love…_

Blake shook her head, banishing the thoughts.

While she argued with herself, hands holding the sides of her head – Yang looked on, anger returning to her face. Tears welled in her eyes again, and her mouth pulled down into a scowl. Finally, she spoke – breaking the silence that had grown up between them.

"We can pretend it never happened," she said, her voice cold.

Blake's features blanched, taking in the hurt in Yang's eyes.

"No, that's not what I –" she said, her words small and broken. She had been about to say _'that's not what I want,'_ but something had stopped her.

The reserve and anger on Yang's face slipped, exposing the small bit of hope she was still clinging to.

Seeing that hope scared Blake more than anything – she wanted to brush past Yang and run out the door. She wanted to run and keep running until her lungs burned and her legs gave out.

But a small voice inside her held her in place.

 _Don't go. Stay – don't hurt her. For once in your life, don't run away._

Yang watched her partner, as Blake visibly shook with the effort to stand her ground. Blake's eyes came up to meet hers, hoping she'd see the pleading look there.

 _Please Yang, I can't do this without your help,_ she thought. _Please see what I need you to do._

Something akin to understanding flashed across Yang's face. Slowly, cautiously, she pulled Blake back into an embrace, hugging her gently against her chest. She held her briefly, then stepped back – releasing her. The only place they still touched was where Yang's hand lightly held onto Blake's.

Nodding, Yang smiled and she took another step back, letting Blake's hand slide out of her own. She'd understood that now it was her partner's turn to ask for some space, some time.

Still smiling, Yang backed out of the room. The last thing Blake saw before the door closed between them was the look in Yang's eyes – not quite happy, but still somehow hopeful. Hopeful, that maybe, just _maybe_ , things would be different between them from now on.

Even as tears spilled out onto her cheeks and she sank into her bed, exhausted, Blake had to smile too.

Things would be different – something had changed irrevocably between them. Blake felt like the floor was spinning dizzily underneath her, and even though she was sitting down she had to grip the edges of her bed to stay upright.

 _Yang…_ she thought, her heart still thudding in her chest.

Laying down, Blake closed her eyes and tried to block out the sensation of spinning out of control. She held her hands against her chest, breathing slowly. Curling on her side, Blake felt the world finally start to slow, and in a whisper she simply repeated the same word over and over to herself.

 _Yang…_

* * *

Author's note: Hey sorry it's been longer than usual! I'm still gonna be updating this story – I'll be back with either part 4 of this or part 3 of Aftermath next! Although for Aftermath I may have to bump the rating up to M for the next chapter. We'll see!

For now, if you want to see more from Yang – my main fic that I'm working on is called Behind Bars and I'm updating it every couple of days. Basically, in this version of events Yang goes to prison for assaulting Mercury during the Vytal Tournament – creating an alternate timeline to what's currently going on in canon. I'm having a lot of fun with that one so if Yang is your favorite cinnamon bun too pure for this world please check it out!


	9. An Unfinished Discussion

**An Unfinished Discussion**

 _What if Sun never interrupted Blake's conversation with her father? Picking up where the scene left off in volume 4 chapter 8: A Much Needed Talk, this fic explores the possibilities of what_ could _have happened had Blake and Ghira been able to finish their conversation._

 _ **Disclaimer** : I don't own RWBY, and the nature of this fic necessitated that I quote from canon (italicized dialogue at the beginning of the fic) so all credit for these lines go to the team at RoosterTeeth._

* * *

 _I wanna hear more about the adventures of team RWBY…_

A sliding door slithered and clicked. The air was cool; the calm shadows of evening settled.

 _I'm sorry._

… _How can you say that! How can you still love me…_

Shaking hands, a wavering voice. She struggled to stay in control.

 _I'm sorry – I'm so, so sorry…_

… _you pulled yourself out. You came back!_

 _I didn't do it alone…_

… _no you didn't, which is why I wanted to ask you – why did you leave Vale? Why did you leave your friends behind?_

"I-" said Blake, her voice halting. Drawing in a sharp breath, she froze.

Blake retreated inside herself, her father's question echoing in her head – the words like rocks in a landslide, scrabbling for purchase as they banged and bowled down the sides of her skull.

 _Why did you leave your friends behind?_

 _Blake?_

Her ears flattened to her head, and she lowered the cup of tea to her lap – still full. For a moment, they sat in silence. Blake could feel the heat rolling off of her father's body, sitting close by her side.

"I left, because…"

The words trickled through the space between them, and to Blake her voice sounded small – like a child's. Sitting in her father's office, she was a little girl again – weak and afraid.

"Blake?" said Ghira, concern flashing in his eyes. Unconsciously, his grip tightened around his daughter's shoulder. "What aren't you telling me?"

Squeezing her eyes shut and grinding her teeth together, Blake deposited the teacup on the coffee table in front of her. Balling up her hands into quivering fists, she pushed herself up off of the couch and her father's hand slid from her shoulder. Head down, she started to pace back and forth across the room.

"I left because people were getting hurt," she finally said, not looking at her father.

Warily his eyes followed her as she stalked across the room. Crossing his arms over his chest, he said, "These 'people' – were they your friends? Your teammates?"

Still not looking in his direction, Blake nodded – chin bobbing.

"How exactly did your leaving help them?" asked Ghira, brow creasing as his eyebrows knit together.

Stomping, Blake threw up her hands.

"Because it was my fault!" she shouted.

"Blake-" he said, rising from the couch.

"No!" she yelled, turning on him and fixing him with an angry glare.

Ghira froze, half-standing. After a shocked moment, he slowly sank back down into his seat. Blake started to pace again, ears twitching erratically.

His face settling into a stern look, Ghira sat with his hands on his knees. For a minute, the only sound in the room were Blake's clipped footsteps against the wooden floor.

"Why do you think it was your fault?" he asked, breaking the stalemate between them.

Blake's footsteps halted momentarily before she started to pace again, eyes trained on the floor. Ghira waited for her to answer, but it was clear that she would need more prodding.

"Was it something that happened in the Battle of Beacon? Is that why you left?"

Blake shook her head and her lips parted to reveal her teeth, grinding together.

"Yes," she hissed.

"Was it the Grimm?" asked Ghira, watching her face carefully.

Blake's ears pulled back and the skin around her eyes tightened.

"No, that's not it…" he mused to himself aloud. He paused, an idea bubbling to the surface. "Was it the Fang?"

Blake flinched.

Ghira nodded, confirming his suspicion.

Facing the wall, Blake stopped pacing and placed her hand flat against the cool wood. She bent her head toward the wall, and she sighed heavily.

A name echoed in Blake's mind – she could feel it burning like a brand on her forehead. Her skin prickled and she fought the urge to touch her brow and make sure it wasn't real.

Steeling herself, she said, "It was Adam, he was there…"

Ghira's eyes widened and he sucked in a breath. Blake's ears twitched at the sound, and she held her breath – waiting for his response.

Her father's eyes narrowed and he frowned. One of his massive hands clenched into a fist.

Stiffening, Blake waited – the silence stretching on unbearably.

"When you first came home, and we found out about what the White Fang had really been doing in Vale I was so furious with myself for having been so ignorant," he said.

Surprised, Blake spun around – eyes wide as she watched her father.

"Ignorant – and isolated. Sometimes it's easy to forget the rest of the world here, in this place…" his voice drifted, becoming quieter. "But to have it confirmed that things had gotten so out of control!"

He shook his head, and banged his fist against his knee with a solid _thump_.

"Of course I knew the Fang was radicalizing, but I trusted the reports from the council! I trusted them and turned away because how did it affect us, here?" he said, indicating their surroundings with his arms.

"Dad-"

"No," he growled, eyes boring into her. "Let me finish."

Cowed, Blake nodded.

Ghira took a deep breath before he continued.

"I was a fool – and my _complacence_ may have added to the risk you faced in Vale!" he spat, berating himself.

Blake took a hesitant step towards him, and then stopped.

"Adam has been a… troubled soul, for quite some time now. If I'd had any idea…" he said, his eyes almost pleading.

"Dad," said Blake. This time, her father didn't cut her off. "I could've called, could've told you… but I didn't! I wanted to deal with this by myself, even after I'd been warned not to… been told to ask for help…"

A look of uncertainty passed over Ghira's face. Standing up, he walked over to Blake and closed the gap between them. Reaching up, he rested his hands heavily on his daughter's shoulders, holding her in place.

Blake's eyes were trained on the floor, and her lips quivered.

"Blake," he said, his voice low, "what happened at Beacon? What did Adam do?"

Blake inhaled sharply, a hiccupping cry escaping her lips.

"He – he was leading the Fang in the attack. He was helping to unleash the Grimm on the school, he was working with those humans – whoever they were – but, but…."

Her voice faded and her lips closed, tugging down at the corners.

Her father lowered his head and tried to catch her eye, but she still had her eyes trained stubbornly on her feet.

"But?" he asked, softly.

"He was there because of me – looking _specifically_ for me," she said, fighting with herself to get the words out. "He said something to me… he said that he would hurt everyone I cared about – that he wanted me to suffer the way he had when I left. He wanted me to know that it was all my fault," she said, voice wavering – eyes shut tight against the tears welling up from inside her.

She felt her father freeze – his breath getting caught in his chest and his hands stiffening on her shoulders.

The floodgates opened, the words started to rush out of Blake's mouth. Now that she'd started – she couldn't stop. She just had to get it out.

"He found me, in the battle. He had me cornered, and I tried to fight – but, I couldn't win… he could have killed me, but he didn't," she said, her hand unconsciously cupping her side where his blade had pierced her abdomen.

"He stabbed me, and he smiled. Every time I close my eyes – I can still see it, he just looked so… twisted. He was different, but somehow the same – like he was who he always had been, I'd just never really seen…"

She paused, struggling to control her voice as sobs wracked her chest and beat the air out of her lungs.

"And then _she_ – she was looking for me. She was calling my name over and over and over again, she didn't know – she couldn't have, I never really told her. Why didn't I tell her!" Blake screamed, hands gripping the sides of her head and her fingers getting tangled in her hair.

All of a sudden, Blake was in her father's arms, hugged tightly against his chest. Tears streaking down her cheeks, Blake let her hands relax and she released her grip. Muscles unclenching, she let herself collapse into the embrace, and she buried her head against her father's chest.

"Blake," he murmured, his chin resting on the crown of her head.

Something of the child in Blake surged back up to the surface – a little girl huddling in the warmth and safety of her father's arms.

For a moment, they just stood – wordlessly holding on to one another – but eventually, her father took half a step back and loosed his grip around Blake. One of his hands stayed firmly on her back, while the other drifted up to wipe a tear from her cheek and tuck her hair behind her ear. Almost absentmindedly, his fingers started to trail through her hair, brushing it softly.

The soft black ear closest to his hand flicked at the gentle tugging sensation, her scalp tingling. Soothed, Blake took a deep breath.

In a low, even voice, Ghira said, "Who is she, Blake? Tell me what exactly happened."

"She – she was my partner, my friend. Her name is Yang. She's – she's hard to describe."

Her father watched her face, patiently waiting for Blake to find the right words to say what she needed to say.

"She can be so stubborn sometimes," said Blake, a weak smile flickering across her face, "but then again, so can I – and she made sure to remind me of that." A small laugh escaped her lips. "She tried to help me see that I didn't have to do everything alone, but I had trouble listening…"

Her smile faded.

"She's a strong fighter – if a little headstrong – but she always has her teammates' back. She never gave much thought to what might happen to her if…" Blake's words trailed off, tears starting to prick at her eyes again. She started to rub at them with the back of her hand.

"We were separated when the battle started, and she must have come looking for me. When she finally found me, I was hurt and Adam was leaning over me."

Blake shivered, remembering the sound of Adam's voice.

 _Starting – with her…_

"He made good on his promise," whispered Blake.

"What do you mean?" her father asked.

"He said he'd hurt the people I cared about, starting with _her_. And he did – he did!" Blake cried, her anger spiking and her voice shooting up, screeching higher.

Startled, her father jumped and his hand stopped stroking her hair.

"When she saw – when she saw me, and _him_ , she jumped in and tried to save me but Adam, he – he cut her down!" Blake was shouting now, her ears flat against her head and her entire body shaking from head to toe.

"I'll never forget what it looked like, Yang flying through the air in one direction – and her arm in another," Blake shivered, her head snapping around violently as her stomach flipped, remembering what it was like to watch her friend be maimed.

"He could have killed her, but instead he chose to _hurt_ her, to _cut off her arm_. In the confusion, I managed to get us out of there – it was almost like he let us go, he fell for my semblance… I had to carry her, there was so much blood…"

Blake finally fell silent, the manic energy inside of her spent.

Ghira placed a gentle finger under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet his own.

"I had no idea," he said, his voice sounded choked – caught in his own throat. His mouth was tugged down in openmouthed frown, his eyes tightening. "Blake, I'm so sorry… if only I had known…"

"No, Dad, it was my fault. Everything that happened with Adam – it was all my fault!"

Watching his daughter crumble before him – watching her _blame_ herself and try to carry all the world's burdens on her shoulders, Ghira's heart sank.

"Blake, don't do that to yourself," he said. He could see the protest forming on Blake's lips but he cut her off. "Adam's decisions," he said, Adam's name twisting angrily in his mouth, "were his own. You can't blame yourself for his choices."

"But Yang – she, she – he chose her because of _me_ ," she said, burying her face in her hands. "She became a target because I care about her, and I couldn't protect her…"

Crying and sucking in sharp breaths, Blake kept repeating herself softly.

"Because… I care… she got hurt… I couldn't _protect_ _her_ , Yang… I… It's all because…"

A thought nagged at Ghira, a question forming in his mind. Releasing Blake he took a cautious step back.

Shocked at the loss of contact, Blake stopped mumbling and looked up at her father.

After a moment, he said, "You still haven't answered my question. Why did you leave? How did leaving Vale help her? She's no less a target because you're no longer by her side."

Blake bit her lip, and she watched her father carefully.

"I couldn't stay – I couldn't stand to see her like that… to see her hurt because of me," she whispered. "I hoped that Adam would follow me, and leave my friends alone, but…"

One of Ghira's eyebrows rose quizzically, waiting for Blake to finish.

"But mostly, I was scared."

Eyes softening, Ghira watched Blake's cheeks flush and her brow crease.

"That's understandable, Blake, but-"

"Dad," said Blake, her voice rising as she cut him off. "I was scared," she said slowly, each word deliberate.

Ghira's mouth closed, his lips pursing into an uncertain frown. Unthinkingly, Blake reached up and cradled her right arm in her left hand – rubbing the muscle gently.

"I was scared, because seeing Yang like that made me realized just how much I care for her… she's not just my partner anymore. I _felt_ something that night, something I'd never felt before – not even for Adam. And because of that," she murmured, "I ran."

Slowly, understanding dawned on Ghira's face.

"Oh," he said, his voice rising in pitch. " _Oh_ ," he repeated, not sure what else to say.

A silent pause stretched between them, but then Ghira smiled.

"Blake," he said, his voice deep and warm. Stepping forward, he pulled her back into his arms, hugging her tightly.

Blake stiffened and then relaxed, leaning into her father and wrapping her arms around his back.

After a minute, she said – almost too softly to be heard –

"I love her, dad… I – I love her…"

A hum rumbled in Ghira's chest, and Blake felt the tension drop out of her and she nearly collapsed – held up only by her father's arms.

After a minute, she repeated the words – this time her voice more sure, even.

"I love her…"

* * *

Author's Note:Well that was an exercise in difficulty! One of my creative writing teachers way back when used to challenge us to write scenes/episodes of our favorite shows, and it's a great challenge but it can be difficult to stay true to the characters while manipulating their situation towards a different outcome. This is just how the story played out in my mind, minus Sun barging in and cutting Blake off (also I'm not sure if anyone else has already written this story since the release of episode 8 last week, so I apologize for any repetition!)

(I know there's a great debate raging over whether canon will go Black Sun or Bees, but obviously for the point of this exercise I picked the outcome I'd prefer, and tried to stick to plot points that support the bees' development.)

Please, let me know what you think and hit me up with any comments/suggestions - I really appreciate your feedback! I'm not sure if I'll do any more stories like this, we'll see how it goes.


	10. Aftermath Part Three

Aftermath Part Three

The First Time

* * *

Yang sat up in her bed, her face turned to the open window where a thin shaft of moonlight slipped into the room she now shared with Blake. A cold breeze played lazily against her bare skin, twirling around loose strands of her hair.

She shivered; the night was chilly, but she didn't mind.

It was late – probably well past midnight. Listening, Yang only heard a slight rustling of leaves outside. Her father had long since gone to bed in the other room they'd rented at the inn. Zwei was curled up in a pile of blankets in the corner on the floor.

A couple weeks had passed since Yang and Blake had reconciled. Smiling, Yang remembered the feel of Blake's touch, trailing a wash cloth over her skin under the steady stream of hot water…

Several days later, Taiyang had ventured back into town to retrieve her arm. The smith who'd dealt with it had done a fine job – everything was as good as new, as if Yang had never damaged it in the first place.

She'd spent several hours a day – training with Blake and her dad, improving her control over her technique. Every day, she got just a little bit better at running the energy of her aura through the neural receptors in the arm.

For a while, Yang had felt _happy_ – she had her father, her partner…

But there was still no sign of Ruby or the rest of team JNPR.

This morning, the three of them had come to a decision: it was time to leave the inn, to head back deeper into the woods of Anima. It was taking Ruby and their friends a strangely long time to make their way to Mistral, and so they were worried.

What if something had happened to them along the way?

Minds made up, Yang and her father had gone about the business of getting them ready to leave the next day. Taiyang had headed into town to pick up some supplies while Yang packed up their things. Blake didn't have much in the way of personal items to pack, and so she'd mostly watched.

Her thoughts running in circles, Yang smiled – remembering how she had tried to make small talk while folding some of her clothes, but Blake had seemed oddly distant.

 _I had no idea – not even a single clue,_ thought Yang, laughing softly to herself.

When she chuckled, Blake's sensitive ears twitched, brushing against Yang's bare stomach. Afraid of waking her partner, Yang sucked in a breath – silencing the laugh.

For a moment she just stared down at Blake – the Faunus's head resting in her lap. Listening, she tried to hear if there was a change in the girl's breathing – wondering if she'd accidentally woken her up.

Blake's ear twitched again and her face nuzzled against Yang's thigh – but other than that she was still.

 _Phew_ , thought Yang. _She's out cold…_

For a moment, Yang just sat there, watching Blake sleep. Her hand rested on the blankets, just off to the side of her partner's motionless form.

But slowly, a bead of curiosity bubbled up inside her.

 _I wonder if – if I could just…_

She shook her head.

 _No – she might not like that._

 _But after what we just did, then maybe… it's ok._

Slowly – as if moving too fast would startle Blake and wake her up – Yang's hand lifted off of the bed. Her hand hovering in the air, she hesitated another moment, but eventually the curious urge got the better of her.

Still moving cautiously, Yang lowered her hand and gently stroked Blake's hair. She let her fingers trail through the long black waves, tugging softly around the base of Blake's skull.

A small moan escaped Blake's lips and her cheek shifted against Yang's leg but she stayed asleep.

Encouraged, Yang let her fingers drift closer and closer to the two soft black ears sticking up out of the crown of Blake's head.

 _I've always wanted to…_ Yang's thoughts trailed off as her fingers started to scratch around the base of one of Blake's cat ears.

The pointed little ear twitched and flattened against Blake's skull. Unconsciously, Blake leaned her head towards the touch, rubbing against Yang's hand.

"Huh," mumbled Yang, grinning.

For a couple minutes, Yang amused herself with petting Blake's ears, watching them move in response to her touch.

For a long time, Yang had wanted to reach out and touch them – but Blake's ears were something that she usually hid from others. They were something… private – off-limits. Even as their relationship had started to change, the lines between 'just friends' and something else blurring, Yang hadn't really been sure exactly just how far she could go.

 _But now…_

Yang's fingers were playing with the silky tip of one of Blake's ears, rubbing against the soft, smooth fur, when she suddenly froze.

Not sure what she was hearing, Yang stopped petting Blake's ears and her fingers grew still. Listening intently, Yang heard a low thrumming sound as Blake hummed deep in her throat.

Yang's hand flew up to her mouth to smother the small sound that squeaked out as she gasped.

 _She's actually purring! I didn't think she would really…_

When Yang's hand stopped scratching Blake's ear the sound had stopped. Blake mumbled something in her sleep, and her head nuzzled up against Yang's bare stomach – the tip of one of her ears tickling and teasing at the edge of Yang's breast.

Yang had to bite down on her lip, sensitive to the touch. Her back arched slightly, pushing back against Blake as the Faunus continued to rub her head against her.

Yang's breath started to speed up and she closed her eyes, trying to focus.

 _Easy there, calm down…_

But Blake's silky smooth ears kept rubbing at Yang's exposed chest – she was naked from the waist up. The tip of one black ear brushed against Yang's nipple – standing out hard in the moonlight.

Yang's chest rose and fell, her hand bunching up in a fist around a knot of sheets and blankets.

Then, almost a feather-light touch, Blake's hand shifted up and came to rest just above Yang's hip. A jolt shot through Yang as Blake's cold skin brushed against her stomach and she gasped, the small intake of air making enough noise to stir Blake slightly from her sleep.

The still half-unconscious Faunus mumbled something, her hand gripping onto Yang's hip just a little more tightly and her ears still rubbing against Yang's chest.

Yang froze for a second, holding her breath until Blake settled back to sleep, her head falling lower in Yang's lap. A red heat flushed up through Yang's cheeks as the Faunus's nose nuzzled dangerously close to the top of her underwear. She could feel Blake's warm breath on the bare skin of her thigh, each little exhale tickling against the underside of her leg.

For a few minutes, Yang barely moved. Once in a while Blake's lips would move soundlessly, and her fingers would tighten momentarily around Yang's hip.

Carefully, Yang went back to petting Blake's ears and trailing her fingers through the girl's long black hair.

But after a while, she let her fingers wander, slipping down through Blake's hair, and over her exposed shoulder. Trailing soft, invisible lines across Blake's skin, Yang's fingers continued to travel in meandering little circles as her nails brushed gently across Blake's chest and then lower, down over her ribs and across her stomach.

Blake's stomach flinched at the touch – her muscles clenching at the ticklish sensation of Yang's fingertips.

Yang watched with curiosity as the muscles bunched and released, moving under Blake's skin that glowed white in the moonlight. Slowly, she started to lose herself in the soft feel of Blake's skin under her hand, and her mind wandered.

Looking down at Blake, and feeling the cool night breeze trickling in through the window by her cheek, Yang started to replay the scene from earlier, still not quite sure she could believe that it had all really happened.

It had all started with that failed attempt at small talk, packing up their clothes for the journey to come…

* * *

"Dad thinks we should head south first, and then cut west along the cliff face," said Yang, stuffing socks into her duffle bag.

"Hm," hummed Blake, nodding.

Glancing over, Yang saw that she had a blank stare on her face – looking blindly at the wall.

"Yeah, he thinks it'll be easier than climbing our way through the higher terrain. Might add an extra day, but it's more likely we'll find Ruby and the others a little ways to the south – assuming they crossed the mountains where we think they did."

Blake "Hm'ed" again, still staring aimlessly at nothing.

"Besides, we'll be able to follow the river. We can save some of our food if we can catch some fish along the way. Might be able to hook a trout or two," said Yang with a wink.

This time Blake didn't even bother to nod or "hm" or so much as blink. All she did was gnaw on her lower lip, her hands playing with the sheets that were bunched around her where she'd perched on the edge of the bed.

"Rrrright," said Yang, more to herself than to Blake.

"But if you want we can take a detour over the cliffs," said Yang, turning back to the drawers. She pulled out a pair of pants, and started to squeeze them into her bag.

She peeked over her shoulder back at the bed. Blake still didn't react.

"I was thinking I might wanna try jumping off the highest point I can find."

Blake kept staring the wall. One of her ears twitched, the motion partially masked under her customary black bow.

"Do you think I'll make it if I dive head first? Really, it's a matter of which is harder – the ground or my head. Whaddaya think?" asked Yang, keeping her tone conversational but studying Blake's face the whole while.

Still no reaction.

Yang dropped the pile of t-shirts she'd picked up back into the drawer – a couple of them coming un-folded in the process. Turning around, she put her hand on her hip and raised her cybernetic arm, pretending to examine it.

"And you know, if that doesn't do me in, I was thinking I'd find another one of those overgrown Ursa. Heard there's plenty around here. Except this time I'll leave the new arm at home – bare-handed bear fight, sound good to you?"

Blake stared at the wall, still unhearing.

"Yup, me too. Well actually, I was really considering lopping the other arm off first. Really give the Ursa a chance – no armed, bear fight. You think you could help me cut it off?"

Blake blinked, but still said nothing.

Yang sighed and stamped her foot.

"BLAKE!" she yelled, taking a couple strides across the room so that she was practically leaning over her partner.

"WHAT?!" shouted Blake, startled. When Yang had yelled at her, the Faunus had practically jumped out of her skin – her hands tightening reflexively around the bunched up sheets.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Yang, exasperated.

"Nothing – why?" said Blake, looking away from Yang and scooting back further on the bed.

"Because you've been spaced out for a while now. You have no idea what I was just saying, do you?"

"Um, was it… about Zwei?" guessed Blake.

"I'll take that as a no," said Yang, flopping onto the bed with a sigh.

The bed shook when Yang face-planted onto the mattress and Blake yelped, nearly getting knocked over.

"Hyou mhm trr mrr wurrs gnrn omm?" said Yang, her voice muffled against the pillow she'd landed on.

"Do I want to what now?" asked Blake, confused.

Yang sighed and lifted her face up off of the pillow, blowing an errant strand of hair out of her eyes.

"You wanna tell me what's going on?" she repeated.

Blake hesitated for a moment, but then she shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest, leaning her back against the wall.

"Why not?" asked Yang, hugging the pillow to her chest.

Blake mumbled something that she couldn't make out, and so Yang's eyebrows kneaded together.

"Come again?"

Blake sighed.

"Because I'm scared," she said, not looking Yang in the eye.

Yang looked stunned.

"Scared of what? We're gonna be fine! I was exaggerating before about the Ursas-"

"No – that's not what I meant," said Blake cutting her off.

Yang's mouth snapped shut and she sat up, still hugging the pillow.

"Then… what did you mean?" she asked.

"We're leaving," mumbled Blake.

"Um, yeahhhhh?" said Yang, drawing out the word.

"Which means," said Blake, still hesitating, "that things will change."

Yang raised an eyebrow as she looked over at Blake, sitting at the other end of the bed.

"I mean, I guess they will. We'll be on the move and all."

"So we won't have this," said Blake looking around at the room.

"Um, no – we won't," said Yang, still confused.

Blake cast a sidelong glance at her partner.

"Yang – there's just something that I need to know."

"Shoot," said Yang.

Blake's tawny eyes stared unwaveringly into hers.

"Is there any part of you that's still mad at me for leaving? When – you know…" she said, indicating Yang's right arm with her chin.

Yang was taken aback by the sudden change in the conversation. Recovering, she shook her head and sighed.

"Blake, we've been over this. It wasn't easy – and I'll never quite be able to forget, but I think I stayed mad as long as I did because I was scared. And I just, I just couldn't live with that. It was as much my problem as it was yours. I mean-"

"Stop," said Blake, her eyes still boring into Yang's.

"Um, okay…"

Yang discarded the pillow and dropped her hands into her lap, leaning forward as she studied Blake.

"Blake I still don't really know what you're-"

"Stop," repeated Blake. She had stopped hugging her legs to her chest. Unfolding her limbs, Blake leaned forward out of her perch against the wall, crouching on her hands and knees on the bed.

"Just stop," she murmured, bringing her face closer to Yang's.

Yang's eyes widened and she froze – not sure what was happening. But as she watched, the hesitation melted away from Blake's face, and she leaned in even closer.

"Blake?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

But Blake didn't answer. Glancing up into Yang's eyes one last time, Blake closed the gap between them and pressed her lips to Yang's.

The kissed started off soft, and shy. At first, Yang wasn't even sure what was really happening.

But then Blake's hand came up to cup her cheek, and the warmth of Blake's skin pressed against her own. Slowly, Blake's mouth started to move against hers, parting her lips, playing with them, even biting them.

At first, Yang was slow to respond. But then something inside of Blake changed – and what was soft and hesitant became harder, more demanding. A mindless _need_ burned in Blake's kiss, and she hungrily pressed her mouth against Yang's, her tongue playfully exploring Yang's lips.

Yang's eyes widened, but she didn't pull away or stop. Even when Blake's mouth moved away from her own, trailing kisses down the side of her jaw, over her neck and down to her collar bone – she just gave herself over to the feel of Blake's skin on hers, a sudden warmth rising from deep inside of her as her heartbeat skyrocketed out of control.

Blake's hands started to tear away at her own clothing, fumbling with the edges of her shirt as she desperately pulled away at it. For a moment her lips left Yang's skin and it was like a spell was broken – until Yang saw Blake pull her shirt up over her head.

Blake was kneeling over her in a black bra – a hungry look on her face. She threw away her shirt and reaching up, one hand tugged at the end of her bow. Her eyes never leaving Yang's, she slipped the black fabric off of her ears slowly, before leaning in to kiss Yang's lips again.

"Blake," gasped Yang between kisses, her voice unsure.

But the Faunus ignored her, her hands clawing into Yang's stomach as she tore away at Yang's shirt.

"Blake," said Yang again, the note of protest leaving her voice. She leaned back, letting Blake tug her shirt up over her head, raising her arms as the fabric was torn away and flung onto the floor beside the bed.

For several minutes – Yang just disappeared: she was the hand on Blake's hip, the lips nibbling at her ear, the gentle brush of skin on skin.

Every inch of her buzzed and she felt a heat rising from somewhere deep in her stomach. Her hand shook and she slowly she realized that she needed something.

Every touch of skin on skin was special. It was one warmth reaching out to and becoming a part of another. It was close and it was intimidate and it was safe.

But there was something cold and hard and out of place that was holding Yang back. Something that wasn't _her_ , something that didn't belong in this place, and in this moment.

"Blake," she moaned. "Blake help me – help me get it off," she said, her hand fumbling with the locks that held her metallic arm in place.

Blake didn't pause – she didn't ask or hesitate or even stop to wonder why. All she heard was the desperate need in Yang's voice, and her hands were on top of Yang's, helping her unlatch the couplings in the arm.

There was a subtle _click_ as the locks all released, and with a swift twist Blake had it off and she laid it on the floor beside the bed. For a moment she stopped, staring at the end of Yang's arm, something sad creeping into her eyes.

"Don't," said Yang, shaking her head. But all the while, she had to fight the urge to let the tears well up and cry.

"It's okay…" whispered the blonde, leaning in towards Blake's lips – pulling her into another kiss.

For a few minutes, they took things slow. They were gentle, sometimes just lying there – Blake draped across Yang's chest, nuzzling soft kisses into her neck.

Blake's hand was drawing little circles on Yang's stomach – stopping only to reach back and undo the clasp of her own bra. The silky fabric slid away from her skin and slipped onto the floor, and then Blake's hand was back on Yang's skin – soft and feather-light.

But then her fingers started to wander lower, curling down around the bone that protruded out of Yang's hip. Then it wander lower and lower – lifting up the waist of Yang's pants and slipping underneath.

Yang gasped and her hips bucked up involuntarily.

"Blake – I, I-"

"Shh…" murmured Blake, silencing her with another kiss.

Her hand slipped back up out of Yang's pants only for a moment – furiously tearing at the clasp of Yang's bra. When she managed to unhook it she tore it away, and glanced up at Yang before she lowered her lips closer to one of Yang's breasts.

Her hand slipped back down towards the cleft between Yang's legs, her fingers trailing little lines over Yang's panties while her mouth grazed against the soft white skin of Yang's breast.

Yang moaned and closed her eyes, her hand digging into the blankets under her, her fingers clenching around the soft fabric.

Encouraged, Blake placed a kiss just on the edge of the dark area around Yang's nipple, and she slipped one finger under the edge of Yang's thin cotton underwear.

Yang threw her head back and gritted her teeth together to hold in another gasp. Her hand came up to grip Blake's hair near the base of her skull – unable to control herself.

Smiling, Blake leaned over and took the tip of Yang's nipple in her mouth, sucking gently. Then, feeling brave she bit down lightly and felt Yang buck underneath her, pressing her chest up towards Blake's mouth.

Unable to take it, Yang leaned up and – pulling Blake's face towards her own with her hand – she drew her into a furious kiss. Her tongue darted into Blake's mouth and any fear of rejection, any hesitation, any "what if" that had ever held her back disappeared.

But after a moment, a deep sound in Blake's throat like a growl rumbled up through her teeth and she shoved Yang back down onto the bed, breaking off the kiss.

Yang was breathing heavily, her eyes wide and wondering.

But before she could ask what had happened, Blake flashed her a malevolent smile before her face disappeared – the Faunus retreating towards the far end of the bed.

Blake's hands clawed their way down Yang's stomach and Yang hissed. Fingers grasping at the waist of Yang's pants, Blake pulled them down off of her hips, sliding them all the way down her legs and tossing them behind her.

Blake's face came back into view as she knelt over Yang, still grinning. Their eyes met for a moment – Yang's eyes bewildered and Blake's on fire. Blake's silky black ears flattened down against her skull, and then – she lowered her head.

"Blake!" shouted Yang, her hand desperately grabbing onto the sheets, wadding them up in her fist.

Heedless, Blake placed a few soft kisses on the insides of Yang's thighs – starting low, near the backs of her knees and gradually rising higher and higher.

Yang's legs started to curl up – her skin was incredibly sensitive and she was no longer in control of her body. Her chest was heaving, cold air lingering over her exposed nipples.

Blake's tongue licked playfully at the soft skin of Yang's thighs and Yang had to fight the urge to scream out loud.

"Blake!" she exclaimed again. "Blake!"

Blake stopped for a moment, chuckling as she looked up at Yang. For a second, she held Yang's gaze – perfectly happy to just smile at the one she loved.

One of Blake's hands reached up and rested on Yang's stomach. Yang's own hand came up to cover it and for a few seconds they just stayed like that – still looking at one another.

But then – feeling bolder than she ever had before – Yang took Blake's hand and brought it up to her mouth. She kissed it once and then lowered it onto one of her breasts, lying back onto the mattress.

At that moment – all of Blake's passion seemed to flare back to life in an instant. Her hand cupped Yang's breast, fingers teasing her nipple. Lowering herself back down, Blake let her tongue trail over the inside of Yang's thighs again, before wandering higher and higher – going to a place she had never been before.

When she placed the first kiss there Yang moaned and her hips bucked again. Her hand came down and dug into Blake's hair – pressing her face closer with a demanding, begging, urgent need.

And that was all the invitation Blake needed. She licked and kissed and bit gently. Every one of Yang's breaths came with a small involuntary sound, getting higher and faster, higher and faster.

Blake's hand left Yang's breast, and she grabbed both of Yang's hips, pulling the girl even closer.

When Yang seemed close, Blake slowed, trying to match the rhythm of the blonde girl's rocking hips. There was nothing that separated them – not space or an unsure thought or their shared past. All of it was gone. There was only the moment, and Blake's lips and hands and softly dangling hair on Yang's burning skin.

When Yang finally came, she cried out wordlessly and her back arched. For a moment she just stayed like that before she slowly eased back onto the mattress, her hand becoming soft and gentle in Blake's hair, stroking her and playing with the loose curls.

Panting, Blake sat up, the taste of Yang still in her mouth. There was nothing in this world that could have made her more content – more purely, blissfully, foolishly happy – than the simple smile she saw on Yang's face in that moment.

Something tight clenched in Blake's chest and she suddenly felt like she was going to cry. Tears welled up in her eyes and she had to take a few short, sharp breaths.

Yang looked concerned but Blake shook her head, smiling. Slowly, she eased herself down onto Yang, lying across her stomach with her head on Yang's chest.

There were no words, no questions – nothing for the longest time. Just lying and touching, and occasionally kissing.

And they stayed like that, Yang looking down at the beautiful girl lying on top of her with her head nestled between her breasts and Blake, sweet simple tears leaking out onto her cheeks, drying against her skin as she listened to the gentle thrum of Yang's breathing.

Twilight slowly gave way to night, and darkness crept into the room. And still they laid there, neither one wanting to move. After a while, they heard Yang's father come back from his supply run, but it was late and he didn't come into their room.

At some point, Blake drifted off to sleep, lulled by the slow rise and fall of Yang's breath. Yang had shifted up into a sitting position, but other than that, she was content to stay as she was, looking down at her partner and watching her sleep…

* * *

Dawn was rising, leaking into the room with soft pinks and yellows and oranges. Yang's eyes flickered open. Somewhere in the gentle crawl of time, she had drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

When she woke, Blake was still out cold. Her head was still in Yang's lap, her arm still wrapped around Yang's hip, but she had curled up into a ball on her side, bringing her knees up to her chest. One of her legs laid over Yang's, her toes curling under the slope of Yang's calf.

Yang smiled, and a simple thought occurred to her. Her chest swelled and she took a deep breath.

"I love you, Blake," she whispered, hoping she wouldn't wake the girl in her lap. "I may not have always known it, but I was always meant to love you – and I always will."

One of Blake's ears twitched, but her eyes remained closed. Her chest rose and fell slowly in the gentle rhythm of sleep.

Yang peered down at her, making sure her words hadn't woken her partner. A curtain of black hair hid some of Blake's face, but Yang watched for any change in the girl's features for a few moments – seeing none.

Satisfied, she leaned her head back and let herself drift – not quite asleep but not quite awake either. Yang's eyes drooped shut and she grinned, feeling warm and comfortable and safe.

But what she couldn't see was the small smile tugging up at the corners of Blake's lips.

* * *

Author's note: Hey guys, it's been a long time since I posted to this particular story in the Bees Chronicles because I've really wrestled with the idea of writing and posting M rated content.

I've never done anything like this before, and I wasn't sure I ever would. But sex is a part of life and of love – and this was always where I thought this story would go, so in order to tell it as it occurred to me most naturally, I felt that I needed to go there.

And believe me, I know it's not exactly the most original Yang x Blake scene, I was just trying to keep with the theme of small but important moments for these two.

But I hope you guys enjoyed, please let me know what you think about how it all went!


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